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The  Adventures  of  Mabel 


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Adventures  of  Mabel 

By 

Harry  Thurston  Peck 


Author  of '"  7^/?  Personal  Equation, 
<*  Hilda  and  the  Wishes,"  etc. 


Illustrated  by 

Harry   Rountree 


>> 


> »  *  •  *   • 


New  York 

Dodd,  Mead  and  Company 

Publishers 


Copyright,  1896, 
By  Dodd,  Mead  and  Company 

Copyright,  1916 
By  Dodd,  Mead  and  Company  Inc. 

All  rights  reserved 


Q  S  i 


To 

Constance 

Who  already  knows  them  all  by  heart 

These  Stories 

Are  lovingly  inscribed 


\  •  »«• • . 


Contents 


I.  The  Green  Lizard    . 

II.  The  Taming  of  Rex  . 

III.  The  Frogs  at  the  Bridge 

IV.  The  Robbers   .... 

V.  Rex  Plays  Policeman     . 

VI.  Walter  and  the  Goat   . 

VII.  The  Grey  Rat  under  the  Pump 

VIII.  The  Animal  Party   .... 

IX.  The  Tricks  op  the  Bad  Wolf 

X.  The  Giant's  Castle  . 

XI.  The  Brownie  Jelly 

XII.  The  Rescue  of  Jack 


Illustrations 


The  animals  all  looked  interested  .      .      .     Frontispiece 
(Page  126)  facing  page 

The  wolf  was  not  much  of  a  talker,  and  Mabel 
could  not  think  of  anything  to  say,  so  they  kept 
very   still 10 

it  felt  as  though  she  were  on  a  big  rocking  chair       24 
They  made  their  way  silently  up  to   the   stable- 
door    48 

The  goat  kept  on  whirling  around  and  around      .        90 
Mabel   looked  up,  and   her   heart  nearly   stopped 
beating,  for  out  of  the  window  came  an  enormous 

FACE 166 

"That's  a  doll,"  said  the  brownie  ;  "and  I  think  you 

NEVER    SAW    ONE    LIKE    IT    BEFORE.      It    CAN    TALK    AND 

laugh  and  cry  and  walk*' 194 

"We  must  hurry  home  as  fast  as  we  can.   Come!"      .     216 


! 


The  Adventures  of  Mabel 


-till 
-»    *      •  • 


> 
*  » 


■      >  »  •  •  »  • 


I.  THE  GREEN  LIZARD 

ONCE  upon  a  time  there  was  a  little 
girl  named  Mabel,  who  lived  in  a 
cottage  with  her  Grandma,  and  her 
brother  Walter,  and  Jane  the  cook.  The 
cottage  was  not  very  near  any  other  houses, 
but  was  away  out  beyond  the  village  and 
near  a  large  wood.  The  wood  was  very  big, 
and  the  trees  in  it  were  great  tall  trees  all 
covered  with  leaves,  and  having  thick  vines 
around  them,  so  that  even  in  the  middle  of 
the  day  it  was  shady  and  cool ;  and  when 
the  sun  began  to  go  down  it  was  so  dark 
that  you  could  hardly  see. 

Mabel  loved  the  big  woods  because  when 
the  sun  was  hot  she   could  go  under  the 


2      THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

trees  and  play  on  the  moss  in  the  shade  of 
the  branches ;  and  there  was  a  lovely  little 
brook  there  with  real  fishes  in  it,  and  some- 
times Mabel  would  go  in  wading,  and  the 
little  fishes  would  swim  around  her  feet  and 
make  believe  bite  them ;  but  they  did  n't 
really  bite,  because  they  were  such  little 
fishes  and  had  n't  any  teeth.  And  ever  so 
far  down  in  the  woods,  where  it  was  very 
shady,  Mabel  used  to  find  strawberries 
growing,  and  blackberries,  and  little  red 
checkerberries  all  under  the  green  leaves. 

One  day,  late  in  the  afternoon,  when  the 
sun  grew  very  hot,  Mabel  was  tired  of  play- 
ing with  her  dolls,  so  she  got  a  little  basket 
and  said  to  Grandma :  — 

"  Grandma,  may  I  go  down  in  the  woods 
and  see  if  I  can  pick  some  strawberries  for 
supper?" 

"It's  pretty  late/'  said  Grandma;  "but 
you  can  go  if  you  won't  wander  too  far 
away  and  be  out  after  dark.  You  know, 
Mabel,  there  are  animals  in  the  woods  that 
might  hurt  you ;  and  they  come  out  from 
their  caves  as  soon  as  it  begins  to  grow 
dark." 


THE   GREEN   LIZARD  3 

"  Oh,  I  'm  not  afraid  of  animals  !/'  said 
Mabel ;  "  and  I  won't  be  late.  I  '11  pick 
you  a  basketful  of  strawberries  and  then 
I  '11  come  straight  home." 

So  off  she  went,  with  her  little  sun-bon- 
net on  her  head  and  with  her  basket  on 
her  arm,  down  into  the  big  shady  woods. 
When  she  reached  them  she  strolled  along 
under  the  trees  over  the  beautiful  soft  moss, 
where  the  shadows  made  it  nice  and  cool, 
and  where  the  birds  perched  under  the 
thick  leaves  and  sang  when  they  saw  her 
coming;  for  they  all  remembered  Mabel, 
and  liked  to  see  her  playing  around  in  the 
woods. 

Pretty  soon  she  looked  for  the  place 
where  the  strawberries  were,  and  she  picked 
and  picked,  and  went  further  and  further 
into  the  bushes,  until  she  had  gone  a  long 
way,  and  had  filled  her  little  basket  nearly 
full  of  ripe  red  berries.  And  as  she  picked, 
the  sun  sank  down  behind  the  hills,  and  the 
evening  began  to  come  on,  and  the  little 
frogs  in  the  brook  came  out  of  their  holes 
and  peeped. 

"  Gracious ! "  said  Mabel,  all  of  a  sudden, 


4      THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

"  it 's  getting  late.  I  must  go  home  right 
straight  off." 

But  just  as  she  had  picked  up  her  basket 
and  was  looking  for  her  sun-bonnet  on  the 
ground,  she  heard  a  queer  little  sound  like 
the  squeak  of  a  mouse. 

"What's  that?"  said  Mabel;  and  she 
looked  all  around  her  to  see  where  it  was. 
But  there  was  nothing  that  she  could  find ; 
only  the  same  queer  little  squeak  kept  on, 
as  though  some  one  was  hurt  and  was 
crying  with  pain. 

Mabel  looked  up  into  the  trees,  and  peered 
around  in  the  grass,  and  looked  among  the 
bushes,  but  she  could  n't  find  out  where  it 
was. 

"Well!"  she  said,  "that's  funny!"  and 
she  stooped  down  to  pick  up  her  sun- 
bonnet  :  when  all  of  a  sudden  right  at  her 
feet  she  saw  what  it  was  that  was  making 
the  noise.  There,  down  in  the  moss,  was 
a  little  bit  of  a  lizard  about  as  long  as 
Mabel's  finger.  It  was  bright  green,  and 
had  a  little  yellow  spot  on  its  head  like  a 
gold  crown;  and  when  it  saw  Mabel  looking 
down,  it  squeaked  again  as  loud  as  it  could. 


THE   GREEN    LIZARD  5 

"  Dear  me  !  "  said  Mabel.  "  What  's  the 
matter,  little  lizard  ?  Don't  you  feel 
well  ?  " 

And  then  she  saw  what  the  trouble  was 
A  big  stone  had  fallen  on  the  end  of   the 
lizard's  tail,  and  held  it  down  so  tight  that 
the  lizard  could  n't  get  away. 

"  Why,  you  poor  little  lizard ! "  cried 
Mabel.     "  Here,  I  '11  help  you." 

So  she  took  both  her  plump  little  hands 
and  gave  the  stone  a  big  push,  and  away  it 
went  off  from  the  lizard's  tail.  The  lizard 
jumped  up  and  whisked  his  tail  around  and 
felt  of  it  to  see  if  it  was  broken.  When 
he  found  that  the  tail  was  all  right,  he 
climbed  up  on  the  stone  and  looked  up  into 
Mabel's  face. 

"  You  are  a  good  girl,"  said  the  lizard. 
He  had  a  pleasant  voice  and  a  very  good- 
looking  face,  only  his  nose  was  rather 
long. 

"  Why,  I  did  n't  know  that  lizards  could 
talk  !  "  said  Mabel. 

"  /  can,"  said  the  lizard,  "  I  am  the  King 
of  all  the  Lizards.  Don't  you  see  my 
crown  ?  "     And  he  pointed  with  one  foot  to 


6      THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL    * 

the  little  yellow  spot  on  the  top  of  his 
head.  "  I  can  talk  and  I  can  do  other 
things,  and  I  'm  going  to  do  something 
for  you,  because  you  were  so  good  to  me 
and  because  you  rolled  the  stone  off  my 
tail." 

"  Oh,"  said  Mabel,  politely,  "  you  Ye  quite 
welcome.     I  hope  your  tail  is  n't  hurt." 

"  Not  a  bit,"  said  the  lizard ;  "  and  see 
here ;  I  'm  going  to  do  something  for  you 
that  I  would  n't  do  for  any  other  little 
girl.  I  'm  going  to  make  you  so  that 
you  can  understand  animal  talk,  and  so 
that  all  the  animals  will  understand  you 
when  you  talk  And  besides,  I  'm  going 
to  teach  you  how  to  make  all  animals 
good  to  you." 

"  How 's  that  ?  "  asked  Mabel. 

"This  way;  just  listen,"  and  the  lizard 
puffed  out  his  cheeks  and  began  to  whistle 
a  little  call     It  was  like  this :  — 


£ 


(  i    i,  1    J1  i^B 


"  Now,"  said  he,  "  you  do  it  after  me." 
So  Mabel  puckered  up  her  lips  and  tried 


THE    GREEN    LIZARD  7 

to  whistle  the  call ;  but  she  had  never 
learned  how  to  whistle  and  so  she  only 
gave  a  funny  little  wheeze  that  made  the 
lizard  laugh  so  that  he  nearly  fell  off  the 
stone. 

"  Try  again/'  said  the  lizard,  after  he  had 
got  his  face  straight  once  more. 

So  Mabel  tried  again  and  again.  She 
made  more  little  wheezes  and  she  puffed 
and  blew  until  she  was  nearly  out  of  breath ; 
and  by  and  by  she  did  make  a  noise  that 
sounded  something  like  the  call. 

"  Good  !  "  said  the  lizard.  "  That  's  the 
way!     Try  some  more." 

So  Mabel  tried  some  more,  and  pretty 
soon  she  could  really  do  it  quite  well. 

"  Now,"  said  the  lizard,  "  if  you  want 
any  animal  to  be  your  friend,  just  whistle 
that  way  to  him.  That 's  the  call  of  all  the 
animals.  Be  careful  and  don't  forget  it. 
Good  evening." 

And  before  Mabel  knew  what  he  was 
doing,  the  lizard  had  jumped  off  the  stone 
and  darted  down  into  a  hole  in  the  ground. 

"Well!"  said  Mabel,  "that's  the  fun- 
niest thing  I  ever  heard  of.     A  lizard  talk- 


8      THE    ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

ing  and  teaching  me  to  whistle  !  But  dear 
me !  how  late  it 's  getting !  I  must  hurry- 
home  as  fast  as  I  can." 

It  really  was  growing  very  late.  The 
sun  had  gone  away  from  the  sky  and  the 
woods  were  so  dark  that  Mabel  could  hardly 
see  where  she  was  going.  All  the  little 
birds  had  gone  into  their  #  nests  and  the 
butterflies  were  safe  at  home.  It  was  very- 
still  except  for  the  tree-toads  and  the  frogs 
in  the  brook  peeping  mournfully,  and  every 
little  while  Mabel  could  hear  strange  rust- 
lings in  the  leaves.  She  tried  to  remember 
the  way  home,  but  the  woods  looked  so 
different  now  that  she  could  n't  think  which 
way  to  go.  She  began  to  be  frightened  ; 
and  all  of  a  sudden,  way  off  in  the  distance, 
she  heard  a  long  howl. 

"  What  's  that  ?  "  said  Mabel.  "  Oh,  I'm 
so  frightened  !  " 

In  a  minute  or  two  she  heard  the  howl 
again,  —  "  O-o-o-w !  " —  a  long,  wild  cry.  She 
knew  it  must  be  some  animal,  and  she 
remembered  what  her  Grandma  had  said. 
Again  and  again  she  heard  it,  and  she 
knew   that   it    was    coming    nearer.      She 


THE   GREEN    LIZARD  9 

began  to  run,  but  the  poor  little  thing  had 
quite  lost  her  way,  and  she  was  really  get- 
ting further  and  further  into  the  woods.  It 
was  so  dark  that  she  stumbled  over  the 
bushes  and  the  roots  of  the  trees,  and  twice 
she  fell  down.  Nearer  and  nearer  came  the 
strange  howl,  and  before  long  she  could 
hear  something  moving  through  the  bushes. 
She  was  now  in  an  open  place  where  it  was 
a  little  lighter ;  and,  as  she  looked  back,  all 
of  a  sudden  she  saw  a  great  wolf  push- 
ing through  the  underbrush,  and  coming 
straight  at  her.  He  was  twice  as  big  as 
the  biggest  dog,  and  his  long  red  tongue 
was  hanging  out  of  his  mouth  between  his 

teeth. 

Mabel  thought  of  Grandma  and  Walter 

and  how  they  would  never  know  what  had 

become  of  her;  and  then  she  remembered 

what    the  lizard    had  told    her.     The   wolf 

was    almost    touching    her  and    she    was 

frightened  to  death,  but  she  made  up  her 

mind  to  try  to  whistle  the  call.     Round  she 

turned  and  looked  right  in  the  wolf's  face. 

She  could  feel  his  breath,  her  lips  trembled, 

but  she  gave  the  whistle. 


io    THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

"  O-o-o-w !  "  said  the  great  wolf,  and  he 
stopped  as  quick  as  a  wink. 

Mabel  whistled  again.  The  wolf  put  his 
tongue  in  his  mouth  and  hung  his  head 
down.  Then  Mabel  saw  that  his  face 
looked  very  pleasant,  and  she  was  n't  afraid 
any  more.  After  all,  he  was  just  like  a  big 
dog. 

"Wolf,"  said  Mabel,  "I  want  you  to  be 
my  friend  !  " 

lt  All  right,"  said  the  wolf.  He  had  a  big 
growling  voice,  and  he  spoke  in  wolf-talk, 
but  Mabel  could  understand  what  he  said. 

"  I  Ve  lost  my  way,  wolf,"  said  she ; 
"  please  show  me  the  way  home.  I  live  at 
Grandma's." 

"  I  know,"  said  the  wolf,  "  I  Ve  seen  you 
playing  around  in  the  daytime.  "  Put  your 
hand  on  my  neck  and  I  '11  show  you  the 
way." 

So  Mabel  put  her  hand  on  the  wolf's  neck 
and  they  went  along  together.  His  fur  was 
very  soft  and  long,  and  Mabel  rested  her 
hand  on  it  as  she  walked,  for  she  was  very 
tired.  On  they  went  through  the  woods. 
The   wolf   was  not  much  of  a  talker,  and 


The  wolf  was  not  much  of  a  talker,  and  Mabel  could  not  think  of  anything 

to  say,  so  they  kept  very  still. 


c 
•  * 


THE   GREEN   LIZARD  n 

Mabel  could  not  think  of  anything  to  say, 
so  they  kept  very  still.  At  last  they  got  to 
the  edge  of  the  woods. 

"  There ! "  said  the  wolf,  pointing  with 
his  big  paw ;  and  Mabel  could  see  through 
the  dark  her  home  with  a  bright  light 
shining  from  the  window. 

"  Good-bye,  wolf,"  said  Mabel.  "  Thank 
you  very  much.  I  knew  you  were  a  good 
wolf  and  would  n't  ever  hurt  little  girls, 
would  you  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  the  wolf  in  a  rather  queer 
voice,  and  Mabel  thought  he  looked  rather 
sheepish,  and  that  he  hung  his  head  rather 
low. 

"  Well,  good-night,"  said  she,  and  she  put 
her  arms  round  his  big  furry  neck  and  gave 
him  a  hug. 

"Oh!"  said  the  wolf;  and  he  licked  her 
hands  with  his  rough  tongue,  and  then 
trotted  back  into  the  dark  woods. 

Mabel's  Grandma  was  standing  on  the 
verandah.  She  was  dreadfully  worried  be- 
cause Mabel  was  so  late. 

"Mabel!  Mabel!"  she  called  as  she 
looked  out  into  the  dark. 


12     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

"Yes,  Grandma,"  said  Mabel.  And 
Grandma  just  rushed  down  the  steps  when 
she  heard  the  little  voice,  and  gave  Mabel  a 
whole  lot  of  kisses,  for  she  had  been  afraid 
that  her  little  girl  would  never  come  back 
home  again. 

After  Mabel  had  had  a  fine  supper  in  her 
high  chair  in  the  cosy  dining-room,  and 
when  Grandma  had  undressed  her  and  was 
putting  her  to  bed,  she  said  :  — 

"  Oh,  Grandma,  I  left  my  strawberries  in 
the  woods ! " 

"  Never  mind,  Mabel,"  said  Grandma. 
"We  can  go  together  to-morrow  and  get 
them.  But  now  I  want  to  tell  you  how 
frightened  I  was  to  have  you  out  so  late. 
Don't  you  remember  I  told  you  how  there 
were  animals  in  the  woods  ?  Well,  this 
afternoon,  your  Uncle  Robert  was  here  and 
he  said  that  only  yesterday,  when  he  was 
going  along  the  path,  he  saw  something  in 
the  bushes  that  looked  like  a  wolf !  Think 
of  that ! " 

11  Oh,"  said  Mabel,  "  I  don't  believe  a  wolf 
would  hurt  a  little  girl,  do  you,  Grandma  ?  " 

"  What,  a  wolf  ?  "  said  Grandma.     "  Why, 


THE   GREEN    LIZARD 


13 


Mabel,  a  wolf  is  the  worst  animal  in  the 
world !  If  you  had  met  a  wolf  he  would 
have  eaten  you  all  up,  —  every  bit  of  you  !  " 
Mabel  did  n't  say  anything,  but  she 
laughed  a  little  to  herself,  and  then  turned 
over  in  her  crib  and  curled  up  on  her  soft 
white  pillow  and  went  fast  asleep. 


II  m 


II.  THE  TAMING  OF  REX 

THE  next  morning  Mabel  came  down 
late  to  breakfast.  She  remembered 
what  had  happened  the  day  before, 
but  it  seemed  to  her  like  a  dream,  and  she 
could  scarcely  believe  that  she  had  really 
seen  the  talking  Lizard  and  the  good  old 
Wolf.  But  she  remembered  the  call,  and  be- 
fore she  got  out  of  bed  she  whistled  it  over 
two  or  three  times  very  softly  to  herself. 

While  she  was  eating  her  bowl  of  oat- 
meal and  an  tggy  Grandma,  who  had  fin- 
ished her  own  breakfast,  said  :  — 

"  Mabel,  did  you  hear  your  Uncle  Robert 
come  in  last  night  after  you  had  gone  to 
bed  ?  " 

"  No,  Grandma.     Was  he  here  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  he  spent  the  whole  evening  with 
me,  and  he  told  me  about  a  horse  that  he  's 


THE   TAMING   OF   REX  15 

bought.  He  's  having  ever  so  much  trouble 
with  it." 

"  Why  ?    What 's  the  matter,  Grandma?  " 

"  Oh,  it 's  such  a  strange  horse.  Uncle 
Robert  bought  him  yesterday  because  he 
was  such  a  beauty  —  a  great  splendid  black 
animal ;  but  now  they  have  found  that  no 
one  can  ride  him.  When  any  one  goes  up 
to  put  on  his  bridle,  he  starts  up  on  his  hind 
legs  and  kicks  and  rears  and  then  runs 
across  the  meadow.  Uncle  Robert  thinks 
that  he  '11  have  to  sell  him  again  or  else  give 
him  away." 

"  Oh,  that  would  be  a  pity,  would  n't  it, 
Grandma?  I  do  love  horses  so!  May  I 
go  down  to  Uncle  Roberts  and  see  him, 
please  ?  " 

"  Yes,  after  breakfast ;  only  don't  stay  very 
long,  and  don't  go  too  near  the  horse,  be- 
cause he  might  kick  you." 

So  after  Mabel  had  finished  her  egg,  she 
slipped  down  from  her  high  chair  and  got 
Grandma  to  put  on  her  little  coat  and  her 
straw  hat,  and  off  she  went  down  the  road. 
Uncle  Robert's  house  was  about  half  a  mile 
away ;  and  when  Mabel  came  near  she  saw 


16     THE   ADVENTURES    OF    MABEL 

him  walking  up  and  down  the  front  yard, 
talking  to  John  the  man. 

"  Hullo,  Mabel !  "  said  Uncle  Robert,  when 
he  saw  her.     "  Going  to  make  me  a  visit  ? 

"  Yes,  Uncle  Robert,"  said  Mabel.  "  Grand- 
ma said  I  might  come  down  and  see  the  new 
horse." 

"  Oh,"  said  Uncle  Robert.  "  So  she  told 
you  about  the  horse,  did  she?  Well,  he's 
an  awful  bother  to  me.  John  and  I  were 
just  going  out  to  the  meadow  to  try  him 
again  to  see  if  we  can't  put  a  bridle  on  him 
and  make  him  mind.  You  know  yesterday 
he  would  n't  let  us  go  near  him.  Come  on, 
and  let  s  take  a  look  at  him." 

So  John  got  the  bridle,  and  they  all 
walked  down  to  the  meadow  back  of  the 
barn,  Mabel  following  along  behind,  trying 
to  keep  up,  with  her  short  little  legs.  There 
in  the  middle  of  the  meadow  was  a  great 
big  black  horse  quietly  eating  grass  and 
swishing  his  tail  around  to  keep  off  the 
flies.  He  was  a  splendid  looking  horse, 
with  a  long  black  mane,  and  a  glossy  coat 
that  shone  in  the  sunlight  as  though  it  had 
been  polished  with  a  blacking-brush     When 


THE   TAMING   OF   REX  17 

he  saw  that  some  one  was  coming  into  the 
field  he  cocked  his  head  a  little  to  one  side 
and  sniffed,  but  kept  right  on  biting  at  the 
clover. 

"Oh,  isn't  he  a  beauty!"  cried  Mabel. 
"What's  his  name?" 

"  The  man  who  sold  him  to  me  said  his 
name  was  Rex,"  answered  Uncle  Robert ; 
"  and  he  is  a  beauty  to  look  at ;  only  he  's 
got  an  awfully  bad  temper.  I  wonder  if 
he  s  any  quieter  to-day.  Here,  John,  give 
me  the  bridle  and  I  '11  tackle  him  first." 

So  Uncle  Robert  took  the  bridle  and 
walked  very,  very  slowly  into  the  meadow 
Rex  did  n't  stir,  but  kept  on  quietly  eating. 
Nearer  and  nearer  and  nearer  came  Uncle 
Robert,  creeping  along  as  softly  as  he 
could. 

"  I  guess  he  '11  get  him  this  time,"  said 
John  to  Mabel. 

Uncle  Robert  was  now  almost  up  to  Rex's 
head.  He  spread  out  the  bridle  and  took 
the  bit  in  his  right  hand  and  made  one 
more  move  forward.  In  half  a  jiffy  he 
would  have  had  the  reins  over  the  horse's 
neck,  when  —  bang!    all  of  a  sudden,  just 


18     THE   ADVENTURES    OF    MABEL 

like  lightning,  up  went  Rex's  head;  he 
snorted  a  tremendous  snort  and  stood 
straight  up  on  his  hind  legs  ;  then  he 
gave  a  terrific  jump  into  the  air,  kicked 
out  his  heels,  and  tore  away  through  the 
grass,  plunging  and  cavorting  like  a  crazy 
horse. 

"  Pah !  "  said  John,  "  he  's  just  as  bad  as 
ever ! " 

Uncle  Robert  tried  again  and  again,  but 
Rex  would  n't  let  him  come  anywhere  near 
him.  He  kicked  and  pranced  and  galloped 
about  the  field,  until  at  last  Uncle  Robert 
gave  it  up  and  came  back  to  where  Mabel 
and  John  were  standing.  His  hat  had 
blown  off,  and  he  was  puffing  and  panting, 
and  his  face  was  as  red  as  a  beet.  He 
took  out  his  handkerchief  and  wiped  his 
forehead. 

"  The  ugly  beast !  "  he  said.  "  What  did 
I  ever  buy  him  for  ?  He  makes  me  so  mad 
I  could  shoot  him  !  " 

"  Let  me  try  him,  sir,"  said  John.  "  Per- 
haps he  's  tired  of  running  now." 

Then  John  took  the  bridle  out  of  Uncle 
Robert's  hand,  and  started  out  in  his  turn. 


THE   TAMING   OF   REX  19 

Rex  had  stopped  running,  and  was  eating 
clover  again,  as  quietly  as  you  please.  He 
cocked  his  head  as  John  crept  up,  but  did  n't 
budge  an  inch. 

"  Whoa ! "  said  John,  as  quietly  as  he 
could.     "  Who-o-a,  old  horse,  who-o-a  ! " 

Rex  kept  very  still.  John  was  now  at 
his  head,  and  was  just  about  to  slip  the 
bridle  on  when  —  bang  !  up  went  Rex 
in  the  air  again,  —  slash  went  his  heels 
straight  out  as  he  turned.  His  hoofs 
with  their  iron  shoes  flew  within  an  inch 
of  John's  ear.  If  they  had  struck  him 
they  would  have  knocked  his  head  clean 
off. 

"  Ow !  ow !  "  cried  John,  frightened  half 
to  death.  "If  he'd  kicked  me,  I'd  have 
been  a  dead  man  !  " 

Then  he  hurried  back  to  where  Uncle 
Robert  and  Mabel  stood,  while  Rex  went 
galloping  around  the  meadow  again,  snort- 
ing like  mad. 

"  Is  n't  that  the  worst  beast  you  ever 
saw?"  cried  Uncle  Robert,  who  was  dread- 
fully vexed.  "  I  '11  sell  him  or  give  him 
away  this  very  afternoon  !  " 


20     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

Mabel  kept  very  still  for  a  moment 
Then  she  looked  up  into  Uncle  Roberts 
face,  and  said  in  her  soft  little  voice  :  — 

"  Uncle  Robert,  will  you  let  me  try  to 
put  his  bridle  on?  " 

Uncle  Robert  stared  at  her  till  his  eyes 
nearly  popped  out  of  his  head.  He  was  too 
surprised  to  speak  at  first,  and  then  he 
began  to  laugh. 

"  Ha,  ha !  "  he  said.  "  What,  you  try  to 
put  a  bridle  on  him?  Ha,  ha!  that's  a 
good  joke  I" 

"  Ho,  ho  !  "  roared  John.  "  Well,  that 's 
the  best  I  ever  heard  ! " 

"May  I,  Uncle  Robert?"  said  Mabel. 

11  Why,  Mabel,"  said  he,  "  it  's  perfect 
nonsense  for  a  little  girl  like  you  to  think 
of  such  a  thing.  The  idea  of  your  man- 
aging a  big  ugly  horse  ! M 

"  Sure,"  said  John,  "  you  're  only  a  little 
baby  yet,  and  the  horse 'd  eat  you  up  or 
kick  you  way  across  the  lot." 

"  Well,"  said  Mabel,  "  I  could  n't  do  any 
worse  than  you  did,  anyhow  ! " 

Mabel  was  angry.  She  did  n't  like  to  be 
called  a  baby  when  she  was  nearly  six  years 


THE   TAMING   OF   REX  21 

old.  Then  she  turned  to  Uncle  Robert  and 
said :  — 

"  Please,  please  let  me  try." 

Uncle  Robert  laughed  again. 

"  Well,  Mabel,"  he  said,  "  he  '11  just  run 
away  when  you  go  near  him,  so  it  won't 
do  any  particular  harm  ;  but  you  're  a 
silly  little  girl  to  think  that  you  can 
do  what  John  and  I  could  n't.  Why, 
you  're  so  small  you  '11  make  the  horse 
laugh  to  see  you  coming  up  to  him  with 
a  bridle." 

"  Never  mind,"  said  Mabel,  stoutly.  "  I  'd 
like  to  see  a  horse  laugh.  If  I  can't  put 
his  bridle  on  him  I  '11  come  back  again." 

So  she  swung  the  bridle  over  her  little 
arm  and  started  out  through  the  clover. 
She  was  so  small  that  the  clover-blossoms 
came  up  almost  to  her  neck,  and  her  fluffs 
of  yellow  hair  touched  them  as  she  walked 
along.  It  was  a  pretty  picture  that  she 
made,  moving  through  the  thick  green 
grass,  and  perhaps  this  was  why  Rex 
stopped  munching  clover  long  before  she 
came  near  him,  and  began  looking  at  the 
little    figure    that    was    marching    straight 


22    THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

toward    him    as    he   stood  with   his    head 
high  up  in  the  air. 

Perhaps,  though,  he  thought  that  he 
could  frighten  her  when  he  saw  how  small 
she  was ;  for  he  pawed  the  ground  and 
snuffed  the  air,  and  shook  his  mane  at 
her,  and  when  she  came  near  him  he  began 
to  lash  his  tail  as  though  he  were  very 
fierce.  But  Mabel  looked  up  at  him  and 
held  out  her  hand,  and  as  he  lifted  his 
hoofs  she  whistled  the  Lizard's  call. 


1  j    p  j    h — n~ h 


Rex  stopped  as  though  he  had  been  shot. 
He  pricked  up  his  ears  and  looked  at  her 
very  hard.  Then  Mabel  whistled  the  call 
once  more. 

"  Good  old  horsey,"  she  said  to  him. 
"  You  won't  run  away  from  me  and  be  a 
bad  horse,  will  you  ?" 

Then  she  whistled  the  call  for  the  third 
time.  Rex  put  his  head  down  low  and 
gave  a  long  soft  whinny. 

"Come  here,  Rex,"  said  Mabel ;  and  the 
big  horse    walked  quietly   up   to   her,  and 


THE   TAMING   OF   REX  23 

rubbed  his  nose  on  her  cheek,  whinnying 
all  the  time  as  gently  as  if  he  had  been 
only  a  little  colt. 

Uncle  Robert  and  John  could  n't  believe 
their  eyes.  They  were  too  far  away  to  hear 
her  whistle  the  call,  so  they  just  stood 
there  and  wondered  how  on  earth  Mabel 
was  making  friends  with  the  horse. 

11  Open  your  mouth,  Rex,"  said  Mabel. 

He  opened  his  mouth,  and  she  slipped  the 
bit  in  between  his  teeth.  Then  she  drew  the 
bridle  over  his  ears  and  fastened  the  strap  as 
she  had  often  seen  men  do  when  they  har- 
nessed horses. 

"  Now,  Rex,"  said  Mabel,  after  she  had 
patted  his  nose  and  smoothed  his  neck,  "  I 
want  you  to  come  up  to  the  fence,  so  that 
I  can  climb  up  on  your  back  and  ride 
you." 

Rex  whinnied  again  and  walked  slowly  up 
to  the  high  stone  wall  near  by.  Then  Mabel 
clambered  up  on  the  wall,  and  from  the  wall 
she  crept  upon  Rex's  broad  back  and  took 
hold  of  the  reins.  When  he  felt  her  sitting 
on  him  he  stood  up  in  the  air  on  his  hind 
legs;  but  he  did  it  so  slowly  that    Mabel 


24     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

did  n't  mind  it,  for  it  felt  as  though  she  was 
on  a  big  rocking  chair,  and  she  held  on  tight 
by  the  reins  and  Rex's  mane.  Then,  when 
all  his  four  feet  were  on  the  ground  again, 
she  spoke  to  him  once  more,  and  he  started 
off  with  her  across  the  meadow  to  the  place 
where  Uncle  Robert  and  John  were  stand- 
ing. As  soon  as  he  got  there  he  stopped 
and  stood  beside  them  perfectly  still  with 
Mabel  laughing  on  his  back. 

"  O  Mabel,  Mabel ! "  cried  Uncle  Robert, 
whose  eyes  were  as  big  as  saucers.  "  How 
in  the  world  did  you  manage  to  do  it? 
Why,  it 's  the  most  wonderful  thing  I  ever 
saw  in  my  life  !     Wonderful !    Wonderful ! " 

"  Oh,  I  just  spoke  to  him,  Uncle  Robert, 
and  he  minded  me  all  right,"  said  Mabel. 
"  I  think  he  likes  little  girls/' 

"  He  seems  to,"  said  Uncle  Robert,  still 
wondering. 

"  Am  I  a  little  baby  now,  John  ? "  asked 
Mabel. 

"Sure,  Miss  Mabel,"  said  John,  "  I  '11  never 
call  you  a  little  baby  again.  You  're  bigger 
than  the  biggest  man  /  ever  saw  !  " 

"Well,"  said   Mabel  after  a  little  while. 


>        1 
»  ■>    > 

1  J 


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r^""%V.^"  i 


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It  felt  as  though  she  were  on  a  big  rocking  chair. 


'   .   ' 


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«  C 


THE   TAMING   OF    REX  25 

"  help  me  down,  please,  Uncle  Robert.  Rex 
is  good  now,  and  you  can  ride  him  all  you 
want  to." 

"  No,  no,"  answered  Uncle  Robert.  "  You 
have  done  such  a  wonderful  thing  with  him 
that  I  think  he  ought  to  belong  to  you  after 
this ;  so  I'm  going  to  give  him  to  you." 

"  What,  to  keep  ?     For  my  ownty  own  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Uncle  Robert.  "  If  Grandma 
will  let  you  have  him,  you  can  keep  him  for 
your  own  horse  to  ride  on  always.  I  think 
you  deserve  to  have  him.  And  I  '11  get  you 
a  little  girl's  saddle  and  send  it  down  to  the 
house  for  you." 

"Oh,  goody!"  cried  Mabel;  and  she 
jumped  so  with  joy  that  she  nearly  fell 
off  Rex's  back.  "  Would  you  like  to  be 
my  own  horse,  Rex  ?  " 

Rex  gave  a  loud  whinny. 

"  Thank  you  ever  so  much,  Uncle  Robert. 
You  are  awfully  good.  May  I  ride  him 
home  now,  this  very  minute,  to  show 
Grandma  ?  " 

"  Of  course,"  said  Uncle  Robert  "  Only 
hold  on  tight." 

So    Mabel  spoke   to    Rex  and  off    they 


26     THE   ADVENTURES    OF    MABEL 

went,  slowly  cantering  down  the  road  to 
Grandma's. 

Grandma  was  standing  in  the  yard  water- 
ing her  flower-beds,  when  all  of  a  sudden 
she  heard  a  horse's  hoofs  clattering  along 
the  hard  road.  She  turned  around  and 
looked,  and  then  she  saw  a  big  black  horse 
coming  straight  toward  her  in  a  cloud  of 
dust.  Her  eyes  were  not  very  good,  and  at 
first  she  did  not  see  that  there  was  any  one 
riding  him. 

"  Dear  me  !  "  she  said  to  herself.  "  That 
must  be  Robert's  new  horse.  I  wonder  if 
he  's  broken  loose  and  run  away." 

But  in  a  minute  she  noticed  something 
like  a  little  white  bundle  perched  up  on  his 
back,  and  a  second  or  two  later  she  saw  that 
it  was  Mabel,  laughing  away  as  she  rode 
the  great  horse  right  through  the  gateway 
and  over  the  lawn  till  she  stopped  him  at 
Gandma's  side. 

"  Mabel!  Mabel!"  cried  out  Grandma. 
"You  on  a  horse's  back?  Why,  how  can 
you  ride  like  that?  Aren't  you  afraid  of 
falling  off  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no !  "  said  Mabel.     "  It 's  lots  of  fun  I 


THE   TAMING   OF   REX  27 

And,  Grandma,  Uncle  Robert  has  given  me 
Rex  for  my  ownty  own  horse  to  keep  as 
long  as  I  live,  and  please  let  me  have  him. 
There  's  room  in  the  barn  for  him,  and  I  '11 
feed  him  every  day  and  take  good  care  of 
him,  and  oh,  won't  it  be  lovely ! " 

"  Dear  me !  dear  me ! "  said  Grandma, 
who  did  n't  know  what  to  make  of  it  all. 
"  I  never  heard  of  such  a  little  girl  riding  a 
big  horse.     Why,  Mabel,  it 's  wonderful !  " 

"That's  what  Uncle  Robert  said,"  an- 
swered Mabel.  "  But  you  will  let  me, 
won't  you  ?  " 

"  Why,  yes,"  said  Grandma.  "  But  I  'm  so 
surprised,  I  don't  know  what  to  say.  Dear, 
dear ! " 

But  by  this  time  Mabel  had  ridden  Rex 
to  the  barn,  and  climbed  down  off  his  back 
on  the  chicken-coop,  and  had  led  him  into 
an  old  stall.  Then  she  got  a  rope  for  his 
halter  and  tied  him  to  the  manger.  Her 
brother  Walter,  who  did  n't  yet  know  what 
it  all  meant,  helped  her  put  straw  in  the 
stall  for  a  bed,  and  got  a  pail  of  water. 
Then  Mabel  pulled  a  lot  of  grass  for  Rex's 
dinner  and  got  Jane  to  give  her  a  plate  of 


28     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

turnips  for  him  and  some  salt,  and  when 
she  had  heard  Grandma  tell  a  man  to  bring 
a  bag  of  oats  and  some  hay,  she  felt  that  at 
last  she  owned  a  real,  live  horse. 

But  she  told  no  one  about  the  Lizard's 
call ;  for  it  was  a  secret,  and  she  felt  that 
perhaps  the  Lizard  would  n't  like  to  have  her 
tell  it. 


*s-»«. 


III.  THE  FROGS  AT  THE  BRIDGE 


MABEL  was  very  happy  with  Rex, 
and  every  day  she  took  more 
and  more  pleasure  in  him.  Each 
morning  she  would  run  out  to  see  him 
before  breakfast,  and  when  he  saw  her 
coming  he  would  neigh  and  stamp.  Then, 
after  she  had  had  her  own  breakfast,  she 
would  go  again  to  the  barn  to  feed  him. 
She  always  piled  his  manger  full  of  sweet- 
smelling  hay,  and  mixed  his  oats  and  his 
meal  with  her  own  little  hands;  and  she  fed 
him  bundles  of  rich  clover,  and  pieces  of 
apple,  and  bits  of  fresh  green  cornstalks. 
Mabel  and  Rex  were  the  best  of  friends. 
Mabel  loved  to  perch  upon  the  manger  and 
rub  his  nose  and  talk  to  him  by  the  hour, 
smoothing  out  his  long  mane  and  combing 
his  forelock;  and  he  in  his  turn  would  put 


3o     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

his  great  head  against  her  face  and  neigh 
softly  as  she  petted  him. 

After  Rex  had  eaten  his  hay  and  his  oats, 
John  from  Uncle  Robert's  would  come  down 
and  curry  him  with  a  curry-comb,  and  put 
Mabel's  new  saddle  on  him;  and  then  she 
would  climb  up  on  his  back  and  start  out  for 
her  morning  ride.  She  almost  always  rode 
in  the  same  direction:  down  the  lane  past 
a  house  where  a  cross  dog  lived ;  then  over 
the  bridge  that  crossed  a  pretty  little  brook; 
then  up  a  hill  past  a  field  where  there  was  a 
mooly-cow,  and  another  house  where  Mabel 
often  saw  a  kitty-cat  sitting  in  the  front 
yard  ;  and  finally  down  a  long  lane  that  went 
through  the  woods  till  she  came  out  into  the 
open  country  where  a  little  pig  hved  in  a 
small  red  house.  There  were  other  roads 
that  went  to  the  right  and  to  the  left  of  this 
road ;  but  Mabel  did  not  try  any  of  them, 
because  she  did  not  yet  know  the  way  very 
well,  and  was  afraid  of  getting  lost.  She 
loved  to  ride  down  the  lane  that  went 
through  the  woods,  for  it  was  so  shady 
when  the  sun  was  hot;  and  all  the  birds 
and  squirrels  and  tree-toads  that  lived  there 


THE   FROGS   AT   THE   BRIDGE      31 

knew  her.  Sometimes  when  she  looked 
down  through  the  long  green  thickets  she 
could  see  the  Good  Wolf  lying  among  the 
tangled  leaves,  and  she  always  called  out  to 
him,  and  he  spoke  back  to  her  in  a  very 
gruff,  but  good-natured  voice.  When  Rex 
first  saw  the  big  black  wolf-head  sticking 
out  of  the  bushes,  and  heard  the  growl,  he 
used  to  feel  frightened,  and  would  snort  and 
stamp ;  but  after  he  found  out  that  Mabel 
knew  the  Wolf,  and  that  the  Wolf  was  very 
friendly  with  Mabel,  he  left  off  being  afraid, 
and  would  whinny  to  the  great  black  crea- 
ture whenever  he  saw  him. 

In  Mabels  morning  rides  she  often 
stopped  Rex  in  the  woods  and  climbed 
down  from  his  back,  to  pick  berries  or  lie 
on  the  moss  under  the  trees.  Rex  would 
always  wait  for  her,  so  that  she  did  not  have 
to  tie  him.  While  she  was  playing  about 
under  the  trees,  he  would  nibble  the  sweet 
grasses  that  grew  by  the  roadside,  and  now 
and  then  would  put  his  head  over  the  fence 
and  neigh  in  a  friendly  manner  to  his  little 
mistress,  who  always  answered  him  in  her 
cheery  little  way.     Since  she  had  learned  to 

3 


r 


32     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

know  animal-talk  she  had  come  to  take  a 
great  interest  in  all  kinds  of  animals,  for 
they  no  longer  seemed  strange  to  her,  but 
just  like  little  brothers ;  and  when  she 
talked  with  them  they  could  now  understand 
her ;  so  that  even  the  wildest  of  the  squir- 
rels and  the  shyest  of  the  rabbits  in  the 
bushes  would  come  out  to  meet  her  and 
eat  out  of  her  hands  the  nuts  and  acorns 
and  tender  green  leaves  that  she  picked  for 
them.  When  she  lay  on  the  moss,  they 
played  about  her  without  the  slightest  fear, 
running  and  jumping  over  her  head,  or  nest- 
ling down  by  her  face  and  taking  a  long 
nap  beside  her. 

In  the  brook  where  the  bridge  was,  there 
lived  a  family  of  frogs.  There  was  the  big 
green  papa-frog,  and  a  mamma-frog,  and 
five  little  baby-frogs.  They  often  sat  upon 
stones  in  the  middle  of  the  brook  and 
croaked  to  Mabel  in  their  funny  little 
voices  as  she  went  by,  and  she  got  to 
know  them  all  very  well.  One  day  all 
seven  of  the  frogs  were  out  in  the  middle 
of  the  bridge  fast  asleep  in  the  sun  when 
Mabel  came  riding  along.     They  were  right 


THE    FROGS   AT   THE    BRIDGE      33 

in  the  way,  and  Mabel  was  afraid  that  if  she 
tried  to  cross  the  bridge  Rex  might  step 
on  some  of  them  and  crush  them.  So  she 
stopped  him  and  cried  out  to  them. 

"  Wake  up,  frogs  !  "  she  said.  "  Come, 
wake  up !   I  want  to  go  by." 

But  the  frogs  did  n't  hear  her  and  slept 
straight  on.  Mabel  called  and  called  again, 
but  still  they  did  n't  hear.  At  last  she  rode 
Rex  up  to  the  stone  fence  near  by  and 
slipped  down  from  his  back.  Then  she 
walked  up  to  the  big  green  frog  and  took 
him  by  his  fore-foot. 

"  Come,  Frog !  "  she  said.  "  Wake  up ! 
you  '11  get  stepped  on." 

The  Big  Frog  woke  up  all  of  a  sudden, 
with  a  start.  At  the  same  time  all  the  other 
frogs  woke  up.  They  saw  some  one  bend- 
ing over  them,  and  at  first  thought  it  was  a 
bad  boy  who  was  going  to  catch  them  and 
put  them  in  a  bag  and  sell  them  to  some 
cook  who  would  cut  off  their  hind-legs  and 
fry  them.  So,  without  waiting  to  see  any- 
thing more,  they  all  gave  a  big  jump  and 
went  splash  !  plunk  !  plunge  !  down  into  the 
brook  as  hard  as  ever  they  could  go.     Pretty 


34     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

soon,  however,  they  popped  their  heads  out, 
and  there  they  saw  Mabel  climbing  up  on 
her  horse  again.  Then  they  knew  how  good 
she  had  been,  and  how  she  had  taken  all 
that  trouble  to  get  down  and  wake  them  up 
for  fear  they  should  be  hurt.  The  Big  Frog 
swam  up  to  a  large  flat  stone  that  stood  out 
of  the  water,  and  as  Mabel  rode  by  on  the 
bridge,  he  puffed  up  his  cheeks  and  said  in 
frog-talk  and  in  his  croakiest  voice  — 

"  Thank  you  !     Thank  you  !  " 

"All  right,  Frog,"  said  Mabel.  "  Only 
don't  go  to  sleep  on  the  bridge  again,  or 
next  time  some  one  may  come  along  and 
walk  on  you,  and  smash  you  all  into  little 
pieces." 

Then  she  spoke  to  Rex  and  went  gallop- 
ing away  home. 

The  next  morning  it  began  to  rain,  so 
that  Mabel  could  not  take  her  ride.  It 
rained  all  day,  harder  and  harder,  and  when 
night  came  it  just  poured  great  sheets  of 
water.  The  next  day  it  was  just  the  same, 
—  rain,  rain,  rain.  Mabel  stayed  in  the 
house  and  played  with  her  dolls,  and  wished 
the  rain  would  stop.     Early  on  the  third 


THE   FROGS   AT   THE   BRIDGE      35 

day  she  got  out  of  bed  and  went  to  the 
window.  The  rain  was  over,  and  the  sun 
was  shining,  and  everything  glittered  in  the 
bright  light. 

"  Oh,  goody !  "  cried  Mabel.  "  Now  I  can 
go  out  on  Rex  again  !  " 

So  she  went  down  to  the  barn  the  first 
thing  after  breakfast,  and  as  soon  as  Rex 
was  fed  and  curried  and  saddled,  up  she 
got  on  his  back  and  cantered  out  of  the 
yard  for  a  good  long  ride.  Down  the  road 
she  went  past  the  Cross  Dog's  house,  down 
the  long  hill,  till  at  last  she  came  to  the 
bridge  over  the  brook.  Then  she  saw  that 
the  rain  had  filled  the  brook  full,  and  had 
swollen  it  out  and  made  it  almost  as  big 
as  a  river.  The  water  was  high  up,  almost 
touching  the  bridge,  and  it  rushed  along  all 
foamy  and  swift,  roaring  as  it  went. 

"  Dear  me !  "  said  Mabel.  "  Why,  I  never 
saw  so  much  water  before  in  my  life ! " 

Just  then  she  noticed  that  the  seven  frogs 
were  all  out  of  the  water  and  were  squat- 
ting across  the  road  in  a  line  just  in  front 

of  the  bridge.  They  reached  all  the 
way  over  the  road  so  that  Mabel  could  not 


36     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

get  to  the  bridge  without  riding  over 
them. 

"  Good  morning,  frogs,"  said  Mabel. 
u  How  big  your  brook  is  this  morning ! 
Come  now,  please  get  out  of  the  road  so 
that  I  can  ride  over  the  bridge." 

But  the  seven  frogs  never  budged,  but 
just  hitched  up  their  shoulders  and  blinked. 

"  Come,  frogs  !  "  said  Mabel  again,  very 
much  surprised.  "  Don't  sit  there  in  the 
way.  Can't  you  see  that  Rex  will  step  on 
you  if  I  try  to  get  past  ? " 

But  the  frogs  never  stirred,  and  only 
hitched  up  their  shoulders  and  blinked 
again  very  hard.  Mabel  began  to  be  angry 
with  them. 

"  You  stupid  frogs  !  "  cried  she.  "  Come! 
hop  away,  quick !  I  want  to  go  over  the 
bridge." 

Then  the  frogs  all  puffed  out  their  cheeks 
and  croaked  in  frog-talk  — 

"  No !     No !  " 

"  Why,  frogs  !  "  said  Mabel.  "  What  do 
you  mean  ?  Do  you  want  to  spoil  my 
ride  ?  Are  n't  you  going  to  let  me  cross 
the  bridge  ?  " 


THE   FROGS   AT   THE    BRIDGE      37 

And  the  seven  frogs  all  said  in  frog-talk  — 

*  No  !     No  !  " 

Mabel  was  astonished. 

"  Dear  me  !  "  said  she.  "  I  don't  know 
what  you  want.  Is  anything  the  matter 
with  you  ?  " 

They  acted  so  strangely  that  Mabel  rode 
up  to  the  fence  and  got  down  off  Rex  and 
walked  up  to  the  frogs.  When  she  came 
near  the  bridge  all  the  frogs  hopped  in  front 
of  her  and  held  up  their  fore-feet  and  croaked 
as  hard  as  they  could. 

"  What,  don't  you  want  me  to  go  over 
the  bridge  ?  "  she  asked.  "  Is  anything  the 
matter  with  it  ?     Tell  me  about  it,  frogs." 

The  frogs  all  hitched  up  their  shoulders 
and  blinked  very  hard  indeed.  But  they 
did  not  say  anything,  for  frogs  cannot  talk 
very  much,  only  a  few  short  words. 

Mabel  went  to  the  side  of  the  road  and 
picked  up  a  big  stone,  as  heavy  as  she  could 
lift.  She  carried  it  up  to  the  bridge  and 
threw  it  down  on  the  planks  —  bang  !  No 
sooner  had  the  stone  touched  it  than  — 
crack !  the  whole  bridge  fell  to  pieces  and 
went  down   with  a  splash   into  the  brook. 


X 


38     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

The  water  swept  over  it  in  a  minute  and 
carried  it  away,  hissing  and  foaming. 

Then  Mabel  saw  that  the  brook  had  been 
so  swollen  by  the  rain  that  it  had  washed 
away  all  the  posts  that  held  the  bridge  up ; 
and  that  if  she  had  ridden  on  it,  she  would 
have  broken  through  and  fallen  down  into 
the  deep  water  and  been  drowned.  The 
frogs  all  croaked  very  loud. 

"  Oh,  you  good  little  frogs  ! "  cried  Mabel. 
"  You  knew  that  the  posts  were  gone,  did  n't 
you,  and  wanted  to  keep  me  out  of  danger  ? 
Why,  you  have  saved  my  life !  " 

The  frogs  hitched  up  their  shoulders,  and 
as  they  blinked  they  all  laughed  together. 

"  Dear,  dear  little  frogs  !  "  cried  Mabel. 
"Thank  you  ever  so  much  for  being  so 
good  !  " 

And  she  stooped  down  and  patted  all  their 
seven  green  heads  one  after  another.  They 
all  croaked  in  a  satisfied  way,  and  then  gave 
a  big  hop,  and  went  splash  !  plunk  !  plunge ! 
down  into  the  brook  again  as  hard  as  ever 
they  could. 

Mabel  climbed  up  on  Rex  once  more  and 
rode  back  home.     On  the  way  she   met  a 


THE   FROGS   AT   THE   BRIDGE 


39 


man,  and  told  him  that  the  bridge  had 
broken  down ;  so  before  long  a  party  of 
men  came  and  built  a  new  bridge,  with 
stone  pillars  underneath  it,  so  strong  that 
the  brook  could  never  wash  it  away  again. 


IV.  THE  ROBBERS 


ONE  morning  Mabel  sat  eating  her 
breakfast  with  Grandma  and  Wal- 
ter, when  she  heard  a  sort  of  knock 
at  the  front  door. 

"What's  that?"  said  she;  "  the  post- 
man ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Grandma.  "  The  postman 
always  whistles.  I  don't  think  it 's  any- 
thing at  all." 

But  pretty  soon  another  knock  was  heard, 
and  something  began  to  scratch  on  the  door, 
and  whine. 

"  Let  me  go  and  see  who  it  is,"  said 
Mabel ;  and  she  jumped  down  from  her 
high  chair  and  ran  to  the  door. 

When  she  opened  it  what  should  she  see 
but  a  large  black  dog  standing  on  the  door- 
mat and  scratching  the  door  with  one  paw. 


THE    ROBBERS  41 

He  was  a  dog  that  looked  as  though  he  had 
been  badly  treated  by  some  one  and  had 
run  away.  He  was  very  thin,  so  that  his 
bones  stuck  out  all  over  him,  and  his  eyes 
were  sunk  deep  down  in  his  poor  bony  head. 
He  was  all  splashed  with  mud,  and  his  hair 
was  matted  close  to  his  body.  When  he 
saw  Mabel,  he  crouched  down  as  though  he 
thought  she  was  going  to  beat  him,  and 
whined  pitifully. 

"  What  do  you  want,  doggie  ? "  asked 
Mabel. 

Her  voice  was  so  kind  and  she  looked  so 
pleasant  that  the  dog  knew  that  she  was  not 
going  to  hit  him,  and  he  wagged  his  tail 
feebly  and  began  to  lick  her  hand. 

"  Poor  old  dog,"  said  Mabel.  "  You  look 
awfully  hungry.  See,  Grandma,  here's  a 
dog." 

Grandma  came  to  the  door  and  looked  at 
him. 

"  Oh,  what  a  miserable,  dirty-looking 
dog !  "  she  said.  "  Come  in,  Mabel,  and 
shut  the  door.  Perhaps  he  's  an  ugly  dog 
and  will  bite  you." 

"Ah,  no,  he  won't,"  cried  Mabel.     "And, 


42     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

Grandma,  let  me  give  him  some  breakfast. 
/  don't  think  he  's  a  bad-looking  dog  at  all. 
He's  only  muddy  because  he's  been  run- 
ning along  the  roads.  You  would  n't  bite 
me,  would  you,  doggie  ?  " 

The  dog  put  his  nose  up  into  the  air  and 
gave  three  loud  barks,  as  if  to  say  — 

"  No  !     No  !     No  !  " 

"  There,  Grandma ;  I  knew  he  would  n't ! 
Come  now,  let  me  give  him  something  to  eat." 

So  Mabel  went  to  the  breakfast-table  and 
got  a  big  plate.  On  it  she  put  three  or  four 
chop-bones  with  plenty  of  meat  on  them,  a 
large  piece  of  omelet,  some  bread,  and  a  bit 
of  buttered  toast.  Then  she  carried  the 
plate  out  to  the  verandah  and  set  it  down 
beside  the  dog.  Oh,  how  he  wagged  his 
tail  and  jumped  when  he  saw  it !  But,  hun- 
gry as  he  was,  he  would  n't  touch  a  scrap 
of  food  till  he  had  licked  Mabel's  hand  again 
as  if  to  thank  her  for  being  so  good  to  him. 
Then  he  just  rushed  at  the  plate,  for  he  was 
nearly  starved,  and  ate  and  ate  as  hard  as 
ever  he  could.  First,  he  gnawed  every  bit 
of  meat  off  the  chop-bones,  then  he  gobbled 
the  omelet,  and  then  the  toast.     Finally,  he 


THE    ROBBERS  43 

licked  the  plate  clean  and  went  back  to  the 
bones  again,  crunching  them  all  into  little 
pieces  between  his  teeth. 

"  Well,  you  are  hungry ! "  said  Mabel. 
"  I  '11  give  you  something  more." 

So  she  brought  him  out  a  large  bowl  of 
warm  milk  with  some  oatmeal  in  it,  and 
watched  him  as  he  lapped  it  with  his 
long  tongue  down  to  the  very  last  drop. 
While  she  was  standing  there,  Grandma 
came  by  and  looked  at  him. 

"  Now,  Mabel,"  she  said,  "  as  soon  as  he 
has  finished,  drive  him  away.  We  don't 
want  such  a  looking  dog  as  that  around." 

"  Oh,  he  is  n't  really  so  bad-looking,"  an- 
swered Mabel.    "  He  's  just  a  little  muddy." 

Grandma  went  upstairs ;  and  as  soon  as 
she  was  out  of  sight,  Mabel  ran  into  the 
kitchen  and  got  Jane  to  give  her  a  large 
bowl  of  warm  water  and  a  sponge,  and  a  cake 
of  soap.  Then  Mabel  sat  down  beside  the 
dog  and  dipped  the  sponge  into  the  water. 

"  I  'm  going  to  give  you  a  nice  bath, 
doggie,"  said  she ;  and  he  wagged  his  tail 
and  stood  very  still. 

First,  Mabel  soaked  the  sponge  full  of 


44     THE    ADVENTURES    OF    MABEL 

warm  water  and  wiped  off  the  mud  from 
the  dog's  face ;  then  she  wrung  it  out  and 
dipped  it  in  the  water  again  and  went  over 
his  body  and  his  legs,  going  over  and  over 
him  till  every  bit  of  mud  was  gone.  Then 
she  got  a  fresh  basin  of  clean  water  and 
sponged  him  all  over  once  more,  till  he  was 
as  clean  as  he  could  be,  down  to  the  very 
tips  of  his  black  paws  and  the  end  of  his 
tail.  Last  of  all,  she  brought  a  big  clean 
towel  from  the  kitchen  and  rubbed  him  as 
dry  as  a  bone. 

"  There,  doggie !  "  she  said  proudly  when 
she  had  finished. 

He  looked  like  a  different  dog.  His  coat 
was  glossy  and  smooth,  and  shone  in  the 
sunshine ;  and  he  felt  so  strong  and  well 
after  his  big  breakfast  that  he  no  longer 
kept  his  head  down  and  his  tail  drooping 
on  the  ground ;  but  he  held  them  both  high 
up  in  the  air,  and  his  eyes  were  as  bright  as 
jewels.  Just  then  Grandma  came  down  the 
front  stairs  and  looked  out. 

"Why,  Mabel!"  she  cried.  "  Another 
dog  ?     Where  did  he  come  from  ?  " 

"  What  do  you  think  of  him,  Grandma  ?  " 


THE    ROBBERS  45 

asked  Mabel,  while  her  eyes  twinkled  with 
fun. 

"  Oh,  he  's  a  very  good-looking  dog,"  said 
Grandma.     "  Whose  dog  is  he  ?  " 

"Ha,  ha!"  laughed  Mabel.  "Why, 
Grandma,  it 's  the  same  dog  that  came 
while  we  were  at  breakfast.  I  've  just 
washed  him." 

Grandma  was  tremendously  surprised. 

"Well,  well!"  said  she.  "I  shouldn't 
have  known  him." 

"  Now,  Grandma,"  said  Mabel,  "  you  see 
he  's  a  good,  handsome  dog ;  so  won't  you 
let  me  keep  him  ?  You  know  there 's  a 
dog-house  in  the  yard  by  the  barn,  and  I 
could  take  care  of  him.  Do  say  yes, 
Grandma,  for  I  should  dearly  love  to  have 
a  dog  of  my  own." 

"  What,  a  dog  ?  " 

"  Yes,  please,  Grandma." 

"Well,  I  don't  know  that  I  care.  Only 
his  owner  may  come  for  him,  and  then  you  '11 
have  to  give  him  back." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  believe  he  's  got  any  owner ; 
and  if  he  has,  the  owner  ought  to  be  ashamed 
for  letting  him  get  so  hungry  and  thin." 


46    THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

So  Mabel  kept  the  dog.  When  he  found 
that  she  was  going  to  let  him  stay,  he  was 
wild  with  joy,  and  frisked  and  jumped 
around  like  mad,  barking  and  yelping  as 
loud  as  he  could.  Mabel  took  him  out  to 
the  dog-house,  and  put  some  straw  in  it  for 
his  bed,  and  a  large  bowl  for  him  to  drink 
out  of. 

"  Now,"  she  said,  "  there  s  your  house, 
and  you  must  be  a  good  dog.  I  'm  going 
to  call  you  Towser,  because  I  Ve  got  a 
story-book  in  the  house  about  a  dog  named 
Towser,  and  I  like  the  name." 

So  Towser  walked  into  his  new  house 
and  curled  up  on  the  straw  and  went  fast 
asleep.  The  next  morning  when  Mabel  took 
her  ride  on  Rex,  Towser  ran  behind  them, 
and  the  three  were  good  friends  at  once. 

That  same  afternoon  two  men  walked 
slowly  by  the  house  where  Mabel  lived.  One 
was  a  very  tall,  dark  man  with  a  heavy  black 
beard.  The  other  was  shorter  with  a  smooth 
face.  Both  of  them  wore  slouch  hats  that 
partly  covered  their  faces,  and  high,  thick 
boots.  Round  their  necks  they  had  mufflers 
of  dirty  red  flannel.     Each  carried  a  long, 


THE   ROBBERS  47 

sharp  knife  in  his  pocket.  They  were 
robbers. 

As  they  walked  slowly  by,  the  tall  robber 
looked  into  the  yard  and  saw  the  stable-door 
open  and  Rex  inside  eating  hay  out  of  the 
manger. 

"  Huh  !  "  said  the  tall  robber.  "  That 's  a 
mighty  fine  horse.     I  wish  I  had  him." 

"  Well,"  said  the  short  robber,  "why  not 
steal  him  ?  We  can  come  here  in  the  dark 
to-night  and  get  him  out  of  the  barn.  I 
don't  believe  they  lock  the  door  nights." 

"  That 's  a  good  idea,"  said  the  tall  robber ; 
"  and  maybe  they  don't  lock  the  house-doors 
either;  so  perhaps  we  can  get  in  and  rob 
the  house." 

Then,  after  they  had  looked  very  carefully 
at  the  barn  and  at  the  house,  they  went  away 
to  the  place  where  they  lived.  It  was  a 
small  brown  house  a  good  many  miles  away. 
When  they  reached  it,  they  went  inside  and 
waited  till  the  sun  sank  down  and  darkness 
came  on.  Then  about  midnight  they  got  a 
dark  lantern,  a  bridle,  a  saddle,  and  four 
large  towels,  and  set  out  through  the  dark 
toward  Mabel's  house.     When  they  came 


48     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

near  it,  they  crouched  down  by  the  fence 
and  crept  carefully  along,  keeping  very  still. 
On  they  went  till  they  came  to  the  garden- 
gate.  They  opened  this  as  quietly  as  pos- 
sible, and  glided  into  the  yard.  The  house 
was  all  dark.  The  lights  were  out  and 
everybody  was  asleep. 

"  I  wonder  if  the  house  is  locked,"  whis- 
pered the  short  robber. 

They  crept  up  to  the  verandah,  and  the 
tall  robber  fumbled  in  the  dark  till  he  found 
the  door-knob.  He  turned  it  and  pushed 
against  the  door.     It  was  locked. 

"  Pah  1 "  said  the  robber. 

The  short  one  tried  the  windows,  but  they 
were  locked  too.  Then  they  went  noise- 
lessly around  to  the  back  of  the  house  and 
tried  the  kitchen-door  and  the  windows,  and 
the  cellar-door;  but  they  were  also  safely 
locked. 

"  Say  !  "  said  the  tall  robber.  "  I  'm  afraid 
the  stable 's  locked  too." 

"  Let 's  see,"  growled  the  short  robber. 

They  made  their  way  silently  up  to  the 
stable-door.  One  of  them  put  his  hand  on 
the  big  wooden  latch  and  pushed  it. 


They  made  their  way  silently  up  to  the  stable -door. 


'■ '  < 


'".', 


THE    ROBBERS  49 

"Ha!"  said  he.  "This  ain't  locked. 
Good  ! " 

They  opened  the  great  barn-door  and 
went  inside.  When  they  found  themselves 
safely  in,  the  tall  robber  took  the  dark- 
lantern  out  of  his  pocket  and  flashed  the 
light  around.  There  was  Rex  standing  in 
his  stall,  half  asleep.  He  opened  his  eyes 
when  he  saw  the  light,  and  wondered  what 
was  going  on,  and  who  these  men  were. 

"  Come  !  "  said  the  tall  robber ;  "  let 's  get 
him  out." 

They  untied  his  halter  and  led  him  out 
of  the  stable  upon  the  soft  grass.  Then 
they  took  the  four  thick  towels  that  they 
had  brought,  and  muffled  his  hoofs  up  so 
that  he  would  not  make  a  clatter  in  going 
down  the  driveway.  Next  they  put  on  him 
the  bridle  and  saddle.  Poor  Rex  was  still 
half  asleep,  and  had  a  sort  of  notion  that 
they  were  the  blacksmiths  men  who  had 
come  after  him ;  so  he  kept  quiet  and  let 
them  do  whatever  they  wanted  to.  Finally, 
the  tall  robber  got  up  into  the  saddle  and 
took  the  reins,  and  the  short  robber  climbed 
up  behind  him.     They  clicked  to  Rex,  and 


5o     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

he  started  slowly  down  the  drive  to  the 
road.  The  moment  they  passed  out  of  the 
gate  and  got  into  the  road,  the  tall  robber 
hit  Rex  with  a  piece  of  rope  and  away  they 
went  at  a  full  gallop.  They  had  stolen  Rex 
and  got  away  safely. 

Now  all  this  time  Towser  had  been  asleep 
in  his  dog-house  near  the  barn ;  but  the  rob- 
bers had  moved  about  very  quietly  and  he 
had  not  heard  a  sound,  for  he  was  very  tired 
after  his  long  run  with  Mabel  and  Rex  in 
the  morning,  so  that  he  slept  like  a  top.  But 
when  Rex  began  to  gallop  down  the  road,  the 
sound  of  his  hoofs,  even  though  they  were 
muffled  up  in  the  towels,  startled  Towser, 
and  he  sat  up  in  the  dog-house  and  looked 
sleepily  out  into  the  darkness.  As  he  did 
so,  he  got  a  glimpse  of  two  figures  riding 
swiftly  away  down  the  road  and  finally  dis- 
appearing. Then  he  looked  all  around  and 
in  an  instant  he  saw  that  the  barn-door  was 
wide  open.  His  eyes  nearly  jumped  out  of 
his  head.  He  gave  one  big  growl  and  ran 
to  the  barn  and  looked  in.  Rex  was  gone. 
Oh,  how  badly  Towser  felt  then !  He  knew 
that  Mabel's  horse  had  been  stolen,  and  it 


THE   ROBBERS  51 

made  him  wild  to  think  he  had  slept  so 
soundly  that  he  had  not  waked  up  and 
fought  the  robbers.  His  heart  almost 
stopped  beating.  Then  he  ran  as  fast  as 
he  could  to  the  kitchen-door  and  struck  his 
head  against  it,  and  scratched  and  whined 
and  yelped  and  barked  as  hard  as  he 
could.  Bangety-bang !  he  went  on  the 
kitchen  -  door  —  scratchety  -  scratch  —  bow  - 
wow- wow ! 

Pretty  soon  Mabel  stirred  in  her  bed  and 
half-awoke.  She  heard  the  barking  and 
banging  and  scratching  below. 

"Goodness!"  she  said  to  herself. 
"  What  s     the     matter     with       Towser  ? " 

Bangety-bang !  scratchety-scratch  !  bow- 
wow-wow ! 

"  Why,  the  poor  dog  must  be  sick !  "  said 
Mabel. 

Bangety-bang  !  scratchety-scratch  !  bow- 
wow-wow ! 

"  Dear  me  !  "  said  Mabel,  who  was  now 
thoroughly  awake.  "  I  'd  better  go  down 
and  see  what  he  wants,  or  he  '11  wake  up 
Grandma,  and  she  '11  be  angry  with  him." 

So  up  she  got  in  her  little  nightie,  and 


52     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

went  pattering  down  the  stairs  in  her  bare 
feet  to  the  kitchen-door.  She  turned  the 
key  and  opened  the  door,  and  there  was 
Towser  barking  and  yelping  like  mad. 

"What's  the  matter,  Towser?"  said 
Mabel.     "  What  do  you  want?" 

For  answer,  Towser  leaped  up  and  put 
his  paws  on  her  shoulders,  and  then  darted 
off  toward  the  barn.  Then  he  came  back 
and  pawed  her  again,  and  once  more  darted 
off.  This  he  did  three  or  four  times,  every 
time  barking  as  loud  as  he  could.  Mabel 
was  puzzled.  She  could  not  understand 
what  he  wanted. 

"  Why,  Towser,"  she  said,  "  I  think 
you  're  going  mad." 

Just  then  Walter,  who  had  also  been 
awakened  by  the  noise,  came  downstairs 
partly  dressed  and  with  a  candle  in  his 
hand. 

"  Oh,  Walter  !  "  cried  Mabel.  "  See  how 
strangely  Towser  acts  !  He  paws  at  me 
and  then  runs  out  into  the  dark,  and  then 
runs  back  and  paws  at  me  again.  What 
do  you  suppose  he  wants  ?  " 

14  Why,  it  looks  as  though  he  wanted  you 


THE    ROBBERS  53 

to  go  somewhere,"  said  Walter.  "  Here, 
I  '11  go  with  him." 

So  Walter  went  out  with  the  candle,  for 
the  night  was  very  still.  Towser  gave 
three  loud  barks  and  ran  straight  toward 
the  barn.  Walter  followed,  and  in  a  minute 
he  saw  that  the  barn-door  was  wide  open. 
He  looked  in  and  found  that  Rex  was  gone. 
He  hurried  back  to  the  kitchen. 

"  Oh,  Mabel !  "  he  said  ;  "  Rex  is  gone  !  " 

Mabel  did  not  know  what  to  say. 

"  I  think  he  must  have  broken  out,"  said 
Walter.  "  Perhaps  you  forgot  to  shut  the 
barn-door." 

"  No,  I  did  n't,"  said  Mabel. 

"Well,  anyhow,"  said  Walter,  "  I'll  go 
and  finish  dressing,  and  then  go  down  to 
the  Farmers  house  and  see  what  he  says." 

In  a  few  minutes  Walter  had  dressed,  and 
with  a  lantern  in  his  hand  he  ran  down  to 
the  road  to  the  Farmer's  house.  He 
knocked  at  the  door  and  waked  up  the 
Farmer,  who  dressed  himself  and  followed 
Walter  back  to  the  barn.  By  this  time 
Grandma  had  come  down  and  heard  about 
what  had    happened.     She  dressed   Mabel 


54     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

and  herself,  and  they  both  came  out  into  the 
yard.  The  Farmer  went  into  the  barn  and 
looked  all  around  by  the  light  of  Walter's 
lantern. 

"Huh!"  he  said.  "That  horse  didn't 
break  away,  because  his  halter  's  here,  and 
it 's  been  untied." 

Then  he  went  outside  again  and  held  the 
lantern  down  to  the  ground. 

"  Footprints  !  "  he  said. 

Then  he  looked  at  the  grass,  and  found  it 
all  trampled. 

"  Two  men  have  been  here,"  he  grunted. 
"  Robbers.  The  horse  has  been  stolen. 
You  '11  never  see  him  again.  Why  did  n't 
you  have  a  lock  for  the  barn  ? " 

Mabel  burst  into  tears.  Her  dear  Rex 
stolen  !  Never  to  see  him  again  !  She  cried 
as  though  her  little  heart  would  break. 

"  It 's  no  use  crying,"  said  the  Farmer. 
"  By  this  time  he  's  miles  away  from  here. 
Well,  well,  it 's  a  bad  business,  but  there  's 
nothing  to  be  done.     Good-night" 

And  he  gave  the  lantern  back  to  Walter 
and  walked  off  down  the  road  through  the 
darkness     to    his    own    house.      Grandma 


THE    ROBBERS  55 

carried  Mabel  up  to  bed  again,  and  tried  her 
best  to  comfort  her ;  but  the  little  girl  kept 
sobbing  and  crying,  and  would  not  stop. 

"  Oh,  my  poor  Rex ! "  she  said. 
"  They  Ve  taken  him  away,  and  I  '11  never 
see  him  any  more.  And  we  had  such  good 
times  together,  —  the  dear,  dear  thing  !  And 
now  maybe  they  won't  give  him  enough  to 
eat,  and  perhaps  they  '11  be  bad  to  him." 

So  she  cried  and  cried  all  night  long. 

Out  in  the  darkness  in  the  yard  lay  Tow- 
ser  thinking  about  everything  that  had  hap- 
pened. He  thought  how  good  Mabel  had 
been  to  him,  and  how  she  had  given  him  a 
nice  home;  and  then  he  remembered  how 
he  had  slept  too  soundly  and  had  not  waked 
up,  so  that  the  bad  robbers  had  stolen  his 
little  mistress's  horse  away. 

"  I  am  no  good  at  all,"  he  said  to  himself. 
"  Even  a  poodle  would  have  done  better 
than  I  did.     I  ought  to  be  killed." 

And  when  it  was  morning  again,  and 
Mabel  came  down  with  her  eyes  all  red  from 
crying,  he  felt  worse  than  ever.  She  would 
not  eat  any  breakfast,  but  went  out  and  sat  on 
the  manger  just  as  she  used  to  do  when  Rex 


56     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

was  there ;  and  her  tears  fell  down  her  cheeks 
as  she  thought  how  she  would  never  see  him 
again.  Towser's  heart  nearly  broke  with 
grief  as  he  lay  on  the  grass  and  watched  her 
cry.  All  the  morning  he  lay  there  with  his 
nose  between  his  paws,  thinking.  When 
Mabel  went  back  into  the  house,  he  still 
stayed  there,  keeping  his  eyes  fixed  on  the 
barn,  and  on  the  marks  of  the  robbers'  feet 
in  the  dust.  Oh,  if  he  could  only  do  some- 
thing for  Mabel ! 

Presently  a  thought  flashed  into  his  head. 
He  noticed  the  foot-prints  further  down  the 
drive,  and  the  marks  on  the  grass  where  the 
robbers  had  ridden  Rex  out  of  the  yard.  He 
pricked  up  his  ears  and  sat  up  on  his  hind- 
legs.     He  wagged  his  tail. 

"  There  is  something  that  I  can  do,  after 
all !  "  he  said. 

Then  he  trotted  across  to  the  foot-prints 
and  began  sniffing  at  them.  He  had  a  keen 
nose  like  all  dogs,  and  he  sniffed  and 
smelled  on  the  ground  for  a  long  time. 

"  I  could  find  them  by  the  smell,"  thought 
he. 

In    an    instant    he    began    following  the 


THE    ROBBERS  57 

hoof-prints  on  the  grass  with  his  nose  close 
to  the  ground.  He  did  n't  stop  to  think  what 
he  could  do  if  he  should  find  the  robbers, 
but  he  started  down  the  lawn  to  the  front 
gate  still  sniffing.  He  was  very  eager.  His 
tail  was  in  the  air,  his  eyes  were  big  with 
excitement,  and  as  he  went  out  of  the  gate 
he  gave  a  big  bark.  One  last  look  behind 
he  gave,  and  saw  Mabel  standing  by  the 
window  drumming  with  her  fingers  on  the 
panes  and  with  her  eyes  still  red  with  tears. 
She  took  no  notice  of  Towser  as  he  went 
by. 

"  Poor  little  thing ! "  said  he  to  himself, 
"  I  '11  do  something  for  you  as  sure  as  I  'm 
a  dog ! " 

So  out  into  the  road  he  went,  sniffing  as 
hard  as  ever  he  could. 

It  was  a  very  hot  day,  and  the  sun  shone 
down  like  fire.  It  blazed  on  Towser  as  he 
went  along  the  open  road,  till  he  was  half 
melted  by  the  heat.  The  dust  flew  up  into 
his  nose  and  filled  his  eyes ;  and  when  he 
opened  his  mouth  to  pant,  it  blew  down  his 
throat  and  choked  him.  People  looked  at 
him  curiously  as  he  went  nosing  his  way 


58    THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

along ;  and  one  bad  boy  threw  a  big  stone 
at  him  and  hit  him  in  the  hind-leg  so  that 
it  made  him  limp  at  every  step.  But  he 
kept  right  on  following  the  trail  of  Rex. 
Sometimes  he  lost  it  for  a  few  minutes,  but 
he  always  found  it  again,  and  went  on,  on,  on, 
past  the  house  where  the  Cross  Dog  lived, 
over  the  bridge  where  the  Frogs  sat  on  the 
stones  in  their  brook,  by  the  Mooly  Cow's 
house,  and  the  Kitty-Cat's  house,  through 
the  dark  woods  where  the  Good  Wolf 
hunted,  beyond  the  Little  Pig's  red  house, 
on,  on,  on,  all  the  afternoon. 

Late  in  the  day,  just  as  the  sun  was  set- 
ting, the  hoof-tracks  turned  aside  from  the 
road  and  seemed  to  go  into  a  yard.  Towser 
stopped  and  looked  up.  It  was  a  great  yard 
with  a  high  stone  fence  around  it,  and  an 
iron  gate  which  was  half  open.  Towser 
peered  in  and  saw  a  dark  gloomy-looking 
house,  with  its  blinds  closed  tight,  and  great 
bars  on  the  door.  Rusty  red  stains  were 
streaked  across  the  steps.  Towser's  heart 
stopped  beating.  He  knew  that  this  must 
be  the  robbers'  home.  He  peeped  in  be- 
tween the  stone  gate-posts,  and  wondered 


THE   ROBBERS  59 

where  Rex  was ;  but  he  did  not  dare  to  go 
in  for  fear  the  robbers  would  kill  him. 
Pretty  soon,  however,  he  crept  around  the 
outside  of  the  fence,  crouching  on  the  grass, 
until  he  had  gone  all  the  way  around  to  the 
back  of  the  house,  still  hidden  by  the  fence. 
Then  he  lay  down  quite  worn  out.  He 
wanted  to  look  over  the  fence  to  see  what 
there  was  in  the  back-yard ;  but  he  was 
afraid  that  the  robbers  might  be  there. 
Before  long,  however,  he  could  not  hold 
himself  in  any  more ;  so  he  stood  up  on 
his  hind-legs  and  put  his  fore-paws  on  the 
top  of  the  fence  and  peeked  very  cautiously 
into  the  yard.  Then  his  heart  gave  a  great 
jump,  for  there  under  a  tall  apple-tree  stood 
Rex  !  The  big  black  horse  was  tied  fast  to 
a  limb  of  the  tree  by  a  thick  rope,  and  he 
looked  very  sad. 

Towser  was  so  delighted  to  see  him  that 
he  forgot  all  about  the  danger,  and  gave  a 
tremendous  bark.  Rex  turned  his  head  as 
quick  as  a  flash,  and  there  was  Towser's 
face  looking  at  him  over  the  top  of  the  wall. 
Rex  gave  a  great  jump  of  joy,  and  lashed 
his  tail  and  whinnied  loudly. 


60     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

Just  then  the  tall  robber  hurried  out  of 
the  house.  He  had  a  red  shirt  on,  and  a 
broad  leather  belt  with  a  big  knife  stuck  in 
it.  He  looked  very  ugly,  for  he  was  scowl- 
ing horribly. 

"  What  's  all  this  noise  ?  "  he  snarled  as 
he  went  up  to  Rex.     "  Stop  it,  I  say  !  " 

And  he  struck  Rex  with  his  hand  —  slap ! 
right  across  the  nose. 

"  I  heard  a  dog,  too,"  said  the  tall  robber ; 
and  he  began  to  look  all  around  the  yard. 
Towser  crouched  flat  on  the  ground  behind 
the  wall,  and  kept  as  still  as  a  mouse. 

"  Huh  I  "  said  the  tall  robber.  "  I  m 
sure  I  heard  a  dog." 

But  after  looking  all  about,  he  could  not 
see  Towser,  so  at  last  he  went  back  into 
the  house  and  shut  the  door  with  a  bang. 

Towser  had  been  frightened  half  to  death  ; 
so  he  still  lay  very  quiet  behind  the  wall 
By  this  time  it  was  evening,  and  it  was 
growing  darker  and  darker  all  the  while ; 
but  Towser  made  up  his  mind  not  to  do 
anything  more  till  the  robbers  had  gone  to 
bed.  He  was  so  tired  that  he  wanted  to  take 
a  nap  in  the  grass ;  but  he  felt  that  it  would 


THE    ROBBERS  6r 

not  be  safe.  So  he  just  lay  there  and  lis- 
tened and  waited. 

About  nine  o'clock,  the  short  robber  came 
out  and  walked  around  the  yard.  He  was  not 
so  bad  as  the  tall  robber  and,  before  he  went 
in,  Towser  heard  him  giving  Rex  a  pail  of 
water  to  drink.  The  robbers  locked  up 
their  house  soon  after ;  but  there  was  a  light 
in  the  upper  windows,  and  Towser  could  see 
them  inside  walking  back  and  forth.  About 
midnight,  however,  the  light  went  out,  and 
then  he  knew  that  they  had  gone  to  bed. 
He  sat  up  on  his  hind-legs. 

"  Now  is  the  time,"  said  he,  and  with  one 
big  bound  he  jumped  right  over  the  wall 
into  the  robbers'  back-yard.  The  moon 
began  to  come  out  from  behind  a  cloud,  and 
he  saw  Rex  and  Rex  saw  him.  Neither 
made  a  sound,  however,  for  fear  the  robbers 
should  hear  them ;  but  they  rubbed  their 
noses  together  for  a  moment,  and  laughed 
softly  to  themselves. 

Towser  put  up  his  mouth  and  began  to 
feel  of  the  rope  by  which  Rex  was  tied  to 
the  tree.  It  was  a  very  thick  strong  rope, 
and  it  did  not  seem  as  though  it  could  ever 

s 


62     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

be  broken  in  any  way ;  but  Towser  put  his 
fore-paws  up  against  the  slanting  trunk  of 
the  tree  to  brace  himself,  and  took  the  rope 
in  his  teeth  and  began  to  gnaw  it  as  hard  as 
he  could.  He  bit  and  twisted  and  chewed 
and  gnashed  and  pulled  and  snapped.  His 
long  sharp  teeth  sank  down  into  the  rope, 
and  began  at  last  to  cut  it  a  little  bit. 
Finally  one  of  the  small  strands  of  the  rope 
gave  way.  Towser  almost  barked  with  joy, 
but  he  checked  himself  just  in  time,  and 
went  on  biting  and  gnawing  harder  than 
ever.  Little  by  little  the  rope  began  to 
part.  First  one  strand  and  then  another 
was  bitten  through,  until  only  about  a  quar- 
ter of  the  thickness  was  left.  Then,  all  of 
a  sudden,  Rex,  who  had  kept  very  still,  gave 
a  great  pull  with  all  his  might,  and  the  rope 
snapped  like  a  paper  string.  Rex  was  free ! 
He  shook  his  mane  and  pawed  the  ground. 
He  was  free!  Towser,  too,  jumped  about 
him,  while  his  heart  beat  fast  with  joy. 
He  had  done  something  for  Mabel  at  last. 
A  moment  later,  after  he  had  picked  the  bits 
of  rope  out  of  his  teeth  with  his  claws,  he 
beckoned  to  Rex  to  follow,  and  they  both 


THE   ROBBERS  63 

went  very  softly  out  of  the  robbers'  yard, 
walking  on  the  grass  so  as  not  to  make  a 
noise.  But  the  moment  they  were  out  in 
the  road,  Towser  waved  his  tail  and  gave 
a  terrific  bark,  and  plunged  away  toward 
home  as  fast  as  he  could  go,  with  Rex  gal- 
loping after  him  like  mad. 

It  was  nearly  morning,  and  the  sky  was 
beginning  to  grow  pink  all  around  the  edges. 
On  went  Rex  and  Towser,  on,  on,  on,  over 
hill  and  dale,  through  valley  and  on  the  level 
road,  till  they  passed  the  Little  Pig's  red 
house,  and  went  through  the  woods  where 
the  Good  Wolf  hunted,  by  the  Mooly  Cow's 
house,  and  the  Kitty-Cat's  house,  over  the 
bridge  where  the  Frogs  sat  on  the  stones  in 
their  brook,  past  the  house  where  the  Cross 
Dog  lived,  until  at  last,  just  as  the  sun  was 
rising,  they  came  thundering  into  Mabel's 
yard,  all  safely  home  again  ! 

Mabel  was  lying  awake  in  her  crib.  She 
had  slept  very  little  all  night,  and  was  so 
sorrowful  that  she  thought  she  could  never 
be  happy  any  more.  All  of  a  sudden  she 
heard  a  tremendous  clattering  of  hoofs  in 
the  yard  right  under  her  window. 


64     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

"  Why,  what 's  that  ?  "  she  said. 

She  got  up  slowly  and  went  to  the  win- 
dow and  looked  out. 

Rex! 

She  gave  a  scream  so  loud  that  every  one 
in  the  house  heard  it.  Then  she  made  one 
big  rush  for  the  stairs,  slid  down  the  banis- 
ters like  a  flash  of  lightning,  and  flew  out 
into  the  yard  in  her  bare  feet  and  with 
nothing  on  but  her  nightie. 

"  Oh,  Rex !  Rex !  Rex  !  "  she  cried,  and 
threw  her  little  arms  around  his  neck.  He 
whinnied  as  loud  as  he  could,  and  put  his 
nose  against  her  cheek ;  and  she  petted  him 
and  cooed  over  him  as  though  she  would 
never  stop.  By  this  time  Grandma  and 
Walter  and  Jane,  the  cook,  had  all  come 
down,  and  were  looking  on  in  astonishment. 
They  could  not  understand  how  Rex  had 
come  back  from  the  robbers.  Poor  Towser 
lay  on  the  grass  with  his  tongue  out  of  his 
mouth,  and  his  coat  covered  with  dust ;  but 
no  one  noticed  him  at  all  or  cared  anything 
about  him.  He  was  tired  and  hungry  and 
lame,  and  he  was  the  one  who  had  found 
Rex  and  brought  him   back  from  the  rob- 


THE   ROBBERS  65 

bers  ;  so  he  hoped  that  Mabel  would  speak 
at  least  one  word  to  him.  But  he  saw  that 
she  was  n't  thinking  of  him  at  all ;  and  as 
he  looked  up  wistfully  at  her,  two  big  tears 
came  into  his  eyes. 

Just  then  the  Farmer  came  by  on  his  way 
to  milk  the  cows.  When  he  saw  Rex  stand- 
ing in  the  yard  he  walked  in. 

"Well,  well,  well!"  he  said.  "If  there 
ain't  your  horse  back  again  !  How  did  you 
you  get  him  ?  " 

"  He  came  back  himself,"  said  Mabel.  "  I 
don't  know  how  he  did  it." 

The  Farmer  saw  the  rope  hanging  to 
Rex's  neck. 

"  Must  have  broke  his  rope,"  said  he. 
11  Here,  let 's  look.  Why,  this  rope  ain't 
broken ;  it 's  bit.  Looks  as  though  a  dog 
had  gnawed  it.     Mighty  curious  thing." 

At  that  moment  he  noticed  Towser,  lying 
beside  the  driveway  and  all  covered  with 
dust. 

"Hullo!  There's  that  dog  of  yours! 
Looks  as  though  he  'd  been  on  a  journey. 
Suppose  he  could  have  done  it  ? " 

Everybody  turned  and  looked  at  Towser. 


66     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

"  Why,  he  was  away  all  yesterday  after- 
noon,"  said  Walter,  "  and  did  n't  come  back 
all  night" 

Mabel  ran  up  to  Towser. 

"  Tell  me,  Towser,"  she  said,  "  did  you  go 
and  get  Rex  back  ?  " 

Towser  stood  up  and  wagged  his  tail,  and 
gave  a  great  bark. 

"  Did  he,  Rex  ?  "  said  Mabel. 

Rex  nodded  his  head  yes,  and  gave  a  loud 
whinny. 

"  Oh,  you  dear  dog ! "  cried  Mabel,  as  she 
ran  and  threw  her  arms  around  his  neck 
with  a  big  hug  that  nearly  choked  him. 
"  You  good,  good  dog !  And  I  never  no- 
ticed you !  " 

Towser  was  so  glad  that  he  did  n't  know 
what  to  say.  He  just  rolled  on  the  grass, 
and  then  jumped  up  and  down  and  put  his 
paws  on  Mabel's  shoulders  and  licked  her 
face.  Pretty  soon  Jane  brought  out  a  big 
platter  of  meat  and  a  bowl  of  milk  for  him, 
and  he  ate  and  ate  as  though  he  had  never 
eaten  anything  before. 

"  Eat  away,"  said  Mabel.  "  After  this  I 
am  going  to  love  you  as  much  as  I  do  Rex ; 


THE    ROBBERS 


67 


and  you  shall  always  have  everything  you 
want." 

That  same  day  Grandma  sent  for  a  man 
who  came  and  put  a  great  iron  padlock  on 
the  barn-door ;  and  every  evening  after  that 
Mabel  and  Walter  locked  it  up  tight  so 
that  no  robbers  could  get  in  again  to  steal. 


V.  REX  PLAYS  POLICEMAN 

ABOUT  a  week  after  Towser  had 
brought  Rex  home,  Mabel  rode  out 
one  morning  into  the  town,  instead 
of  going  along  the  country  roads  where  she 
nearly  always  went.  Grandma  wanted  to 
send  a  message  by  her  to  the  ice-man. 
When  she  reached  the  main  street  she 
found  great  crowds  of  people  there,  because 
a  regiment  of  soldiers  was  going  to  march 
through  that  morning,  and  everybody 
wanted  to  see  them.  There  were  flags  in 
the  windows,  and  the  sidewalks  were  packed 
with  men  and  women  and  children,  all 
facing  the  street.  As  Mabel  rode  slowly 
along,  suddenly  Rex  gave  a  snort. 

"  What 's  the  matter,  Rex?  "  asked  Mabel, 
patting  him  on  the  neck.  But  before  she 
knew  what   he  was   doing,  he  had  left  the 


REX    PLAYS    POLICEMAN  69 

middle  of  the  street  and  was  trotting  right 
up  to  the  sidewalk,  still  snorting. 

"  Whoa,  Rex  !  "  said  Mabel,  but  he  would 
not  whoa.  Mabel  -was  rather  frightened, 
and  looked  hard  at  the  crowd  of  people  on 
the  edge  of  the  sidewalk  to  see  what  there 
was  to  make  Rex  act  so  strangely.  Right 
at  the  front  of  the  crowd  she  saw  two  men 
standing.  One  was  a  tall  man  with  a  black 
beard,  and  the  other  a  short  man  with  a 
smooth  face.  Both  had  mufflers  of  dirty 
red  flannel  about  their  necks,  and  they  wore 
big  boots.  As  soon  as  Rex  got  near  them, 
he  opened  his  mouth  and  made  a  rush  at 
them  as  if  to  bite  them. 

"  Whoa !  Whoa,  Rex  !  "  cried  Mabel,  pull- 
ing hard  at  the  reins  and  trying  to  stop  him. 
The  two  men  turned  very  white  when  they 
saw  Rex,  and  they  tried  to  run  back  into  the 
crowd ;  but  the  people  were  packed  so 
closely  together  that  they  could  scarcely 
move;  and,  besides,  everybody  pushed  for- 
ward to  see  what  was  the  matter.  Rex 
snorted  and  neighed  fiercely,  as  he  snapped 
at  the  men,  and  they  dodged  and  jumped  to 
get  away  from  him.     Mabel  kept  pulling  on 


7o     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

the  reins  and  calling  out  to  Rex.  when  all 
of  a  sudden  an  idea  flashed  into  her  little 
head. 

"  Dear  me  1 "  she  said.  "  The  Farmer 
thought  there  must  have  been  two  robbers 
who  stole  Rex.  Maybe  these  are  the  very 
ones." 

She  was  fearfully  excited. 

"Rex,"  she  cried,  "are  these  men  the 
robbers  who  stole  you  ?  M 

Rex  gave  a  tremendous  snort.  Mabel  knew 
that  she  was  right.  She  leaned  over  and 
pointed  with  her  riding-whip  at  the  men. 

"  Robbers  !     Robbers  !  "  she  cried. 

Just  then  two  big  policemen  came  run- 
ning down  the  middle  of  the  street  to 
see  what  the  matter  was.  They  saw  a  great 
black  horse  holding  a  tall  man  by  the  coat, 
and  another  man  struggling  to  get  away 
through  the  crowd.  The  policemen  rushed 
up  to  Rex  and  seized  him  by  the  bridle. 

"  Here,  here,  little  girl,"  they  said ;  "  what  s 
the  matter  with  your  horse  ?  Who  let  you 
ride  such  a  dangerous  animal  ?  " 

The  two  men  struggled  frantically  to  get 
through  the  crowd. 


REX    PLAYS    POLICEMAN  71 

"  Oh,  Policeman,"  cried  Mabel,  pointing 
with  her  whip,  "  there  are  two  robbers ! 
Catch  them  quick  !  Hurry,  before  they  get 
away ! " 

She  could  hardly  speak,  she  was  so  excited. 
The  policemen  rushed  in  after  the  men,  and 
seized  them  by  the  necks. 

"  What  do  you  want  ?  "  snorted  the  tall 
man,  turning  around. 

"  This  little  girl  says  that  you  two  are 
robbers,"  said  the  Head  Policeman. 

"  We  ain't !  "  cried  the  tall  man.  "  We  're 
good  people,  and  we  was  n't  doing  nothing 
but  just  standing  here  peaceable,  when  her 
old  horse  tried  to  bite  us.  You  ain't  going 
to  arrest  us  because  a  horse  tried  to  bite 
us,  are  you  ?  " 

"  They  are  robbers  !  "  cried  Mabel.  "  I 
know  they  are.  They  stole  my  horse  a 
week  ago ;  and  that 's  why  he  tried  to  bite 
them  just  now." 

"  Did  you  ever  see  them  before?"  asked 
the  policeman. 

"  No,"  said  Mabel. 

"  Then  how  do  you  know  that  they  are 
the  men  who  stole  the  horse  ?  " 


72     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

"  Because  Rex  —  that  's  the  horse  —  said 
so,"  answered  Mabel. 

The  policemen  laughed  and  looked  doubt- 
ful. 

"We  can't  arrest  them  because  a  horse 
said  so,"  said  the  Head  Policeman. 

Just  then  the  other  policeman,  who  had 
been  feeling  of  the  short  man's  coat,  put  his 
hand  down  into  the  pocket  of  it. 

"  What 's  this  ?  "  said  the  policeman,  as 
he  pulled  out  a  long  knife  and  an  iron 
tool  called  a  "jimmy,"  such  as  robbers  use 
to  break  into  houses.  Both  the  men  turned 
very  pale. 

"Oh  —  er  —  ah — I  found  this  just  now 
in  the  street,"  said  one  of  them,  very  much 
confused. 

"  You  did,  eh  ?  "  said  the  Head  Policeman. 
"  Well,  it 's  unlucky  to  find  things  like  that. 
I  '11  have  to  take  you  to  the  Judge  anyway, 
and  see  what  he  says.  Come  along,  little 
girl." 

So  Mabel  rode  along,  following  the  police- 
men, who  dragged  the  two  men  with  them 
by  their  coat-collars.  Pretty  soon  they 
reached  the  Court  House,  and    then    four 


REX    PLAYS    POLICEMAN  n 

more  policemen  came  out  to  meet  them. 
One  of  them  helped  Mabel  down,  and  said 
that  he  would  hold  Rex  while  Mabel  went 
in  to  where  the  Judge  was. 

The  Judge  was  a  fine-looking  old  gentle- 
man who  sat  high  up  on  a  kind  of  throne. 
There  were  two  men  at  a  table  in  front  of 
him,  writing,  and  ten  policemen  stood  with 
their  backs  against  the  wall  ready  to  do 
anything  that  the  Judge  wanted  done. 

The  Head  Policeman  went  up  to  the  Judge 
and  told  him  what  Mabel  had  said,  and 
showed  him  the  knife  and  the  jimmy. 
The  Judge  looked  keenly  at  the  two  men, 
and  then  called  Mabel  up  beside  him.  He 
spoke  to  her  in  a  very  kind,  gentle  voice. 

"  What 's  your  name,  little  girl  ? "  he 
asked. 

"  Mabel." 

"  Well,  Mabel,  so  you  think  that  these 
men  are  the  ones  who  stole  your  horse,  do 
you? 

"  Oh,  yes,  sir !  I  am  sure  of  it.  When  I 
asked  Rex,  he  neighed  ever  so  loud,  and  that 
meant  'yes/  And  the  Farmer  said  that 
the  footprints    in    our  yard  after  Rex  was 


74     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

stolen  showed  that  there  were  just  two 
robbers. " 

Then  she  told  him  all  about  the  robbery, 
and  how  Towser  had  brought  Rex  home 
again.     The  Judge  smiled. 

"  That 's  a  curious  sort  of  story/'  said  he. 
Then  he  turned  to  the  two  men  and  asked, 
11  You  say  you  are  honest  men,  do  you  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  your  Honour,"  said  they  both. 
"  We  are  good,  honest  men,  and  live  very 
quietly  in  our  own  house." 

"  Where  is  your  house  ? "  asked  the 
Judge;    and  they  told  him. 

"  Well,"  said  the  Judge,  to  the  Head  Police- 
man. "  You  lock  these  men  up  for  a  little 
while,  till  I  can  decide  what  to  do." 

When  they  had  been  taken  away,  he  told 
Mabel  to  sit  down ;  and  then  he  sent  four 
policemen  to  find  the  men's  house,  and  to  do 
some  things  that  he  told  them  in  a  whisper 
so  that  Mabel  could  n't  hear. 

"  Now,"  he  said  to  Mabel,  "  you  go  into 
my  office,  and  wait  till  the  policemen  come 
back.  I  '11  have  some  lunch  sent  in  for  you, 
as  you  must  be  hungry." 

So  Mabel  sat  in  the  Judge's  office  for  two 


REX    PLAYS    POLICEMAN  75 

or  three  hours ;  and  a  man  brought  her  a 
glass  of  milk,  and  a  chicken  sandwich,  and 
two  nice  long  chocolate  eclairs  that  were 
so  good  that  Mabel  was  glad  she  had  had 
to  wait.  After  a  while  the  four  policemen 
came  back,  each  with  a  great  bag.  Then 
the  Judge  called  Mabel  into  the  court-room, 
and  the  Head  Policeman  brought  the  two 
men  out  of  the  place  where  they  had  been 
locked  up.  When  they  came  before  the 
Judge,  Mabel  saw  that  they  had  iron  hand- 
cuffs on  their  wrists.  They  looked  very 
angry. 

"  Now,"  said  the  Judge,  "  you  say  that 
you  are  good  men,  do  you,  and  not 
robbers  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  your  Honour  !  "  cried  they  both. 
"  We  Ye  good  honest  men,  and  never  stole 
in  our  lives  !  " 

Then  the  Judge  motioned  to  a  policeman, 
and  he  brought  the  four  big  bags  and  emp- 
tied them  out  upon  the  floor.  There  were 
gold  watches  and  diamond  rings  and  brace- 
lets, and  silver  forks  and  spoons,  and  long 
pieces  of  lace,  and  strings  of  pearls,  and  a 
great  many  other  very  fine  things.     All  of 


76     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

them  fell  out  of  the  bags  in  a  heap  on  the 
floor  in  front  of  the  Judge. 

11  Where  did  these  come  from  ?  "  asked 
the  Judge. 

"  From  the  men's  house,"  said  one  of  the 
policemen.  "  We  found  them  in  the  cellar. 
And  some  of  them  are  marked  with  the 
name  of  the  jeweller  who  was  robbed  last 
week,  and  some  of  them  show  the  name  of  a 
person  who  was  robbed  here  a  month  ago." 

"  Now,"  said  the  Judge  to  the  men, 
"  where  did  you  get  these  things  ?  " 

The  men  both  hung  their  heads,  and  had 
nothing  to  say. 

"  Perhaps  you  found  these,  too,  in  the 
road,"  said  the  Head  Policeman. 

"  There  's  something  more  still,  sir,"  said 
one  of  the  other  policemen  to  the  Judge. 
11  We  questioned  the  people  who  live  near 
the  robbers'  house,  and  they  said  that  a  week 
ago  they  saw  a  black  horse,  just  like  this 
little  girl's,  tied  to  a  tree  in  the  back-yard  all 
one  afternoon." 

"  It 's  a  clear  case,"  said  the  Judge. 
"  Take  these  men  back  to  the  cell,  and  next 
week  they  shall  be  tried  and  sent  to  prison." 


REX    PLAYS    POLICEMAN 


17 


Then  he  took  Mabel,  up  on  his  knee  and 
patted  her  head.  "  Do  you  know,"  he  said, 
"  that  you  and  your  horse  have  caught  two 
robbers  whom  all  the  policemen  in  the  town 
have  been  trying  to  catch  for  a  year,  and 
never  could  do  it?  You  are  a  very  won- 
derful little  girl ;  and  your  horse  is  a  very 
wonderful  horse.     Good-bye,  now." 

Then  he  put  her  down,  and  the  four  police- 
men went  ahead  of  her  to  the  door,  while  the 
ten  policemen  all  marched  after  her.  They 
put  her  on  Rex's  back,  and  as  she  rode  off 
she  waved  her  whip  to  them,  and  all  four- 
teen of  them  stood  in  line  and  saluted  her 
with  their  clubs. 


VI.  WALTER  AND  THE  GOAT 


WHEN  Uncle  Robert  gave  Rex  to 
Mabel,  Walter  felt  rather  hurt  to 
think  that  he  had  no  pet  of  any 
kind  for  his  own,  and  after  Towser  came  he 
grew  more  and  more  unhappy.  He  was  a 
whole  year  older  than  Mabel,  and  he  was  a 
boy,  too ;  and  it  seemed  hard  that  she  should 
have  two  animals  and  he  none.  He  used 
to  complain  about  it  to  Grandma,  and  she 
told  him  that  perhaps  he  could  have  a  pony 
when  he  grew  older.  But  this  did  not  sat- 
isfy him,  and  sometimes  he  was  very  sulky 
about  it  all. 

One  day,  when  both  Mabel  and  Grandma 
were  out,  he  said  to  himself  that  he  would 
have  a  ride  on  Rex,  because  it  was  n't  fair 
that  Mabel  should  have  the  horse  all  to 
herself.     He  led  Rex  out  of  the  barn,  and 


WALTER   AND    THE   GOAT  79 

managed  to  get  the  bridle  on  him,  and  to 
climb  up  on  his  back ;  but  the  next  minute 
Rex  made  a  rush  across  the  yard,  and  the 
clothes-line  caught  Walter  under  the  arms 
and  pulled  him  off,  and  gave  him  a  bad 
fall  on  the  ground.  When  Grandma  came 
home,  she  found  Rex  eating  grass  on  the 
lawn,  and  Walter  crying  on  the  kitchen 
steps,  with  his  legs  and  arms  all  black  and 
blue. 

After  that  he  did  n't  want  to  try  riding 
Rex  any  more;  but  he  made  up  his  mind 
that  he  would  like  some  kind  of  a  pet  that 
he  would  be  better  able  to  manage.  At  last 
when  his  birthday  came,  he  went  down  to 
see  Uncle  Robert,  who  always  gave  him 
a  birthday  present.  This  time  Walter 
decided  to  ask  for  what  he  wanted. 

He  found  Uncle  Robert  sitting  on  a 
steamer-chair  under  the  big  oak-tree  on  the 
lawn,  smoking. 

u  Good-morning,  Uncle  Robert,"  said 
Walter.     "  It 's  my  birthday  to-day." 

"  So  it  is,"  said  Uncle  Robert.  "  You  're 
getting  on  in  life,  aren't  you?  What  do 
you  think  you  would  like  for  a  present  ?  " 


8o     THE   ADVENTURES    OF    MABEL 

"  Well,"  said  Walter,  hesitating  a  little, 
"  I  Ve  been  thinking  it  over,  and  I  Ve  made 
up  my  mind  that  I  should  like  a  goat." 

"  A  goat  I  "  cried  Uncle  Robert.  "  Well, 
well !     What  do  you  want  a  goat  for  ?  " 

"  Oh,"  said  Walter,  "  a  goat  would  be 
just  splendid  !  I  could  play  with  him  just 
as  Mabel  does  with  Rex;  and  I  could  har- 
ness him  up  to  a  goat-wagon,  and  make  him 
carry  me  all  around.  It  would  be  lots  of 
fun  !  Do  give  me  a  goat,  won't  you,  Uncle 
Robert  ?  " 

"  Ha,  ha !  "  laughed  Uncle  Robert.  "  Why, 
I  Ve  got  a  goat  on  the  place  now  that  you 
can  have  if  you  really  want  him ;  but  I 
fancy  he  's  a  pretty  frisky  sort  of  a  goat. 
Do  you  think  that  you  can  manage  him  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes  !  "  cried  Walter.  "  Just  give 
him  to  me  and  see.     Please,  Uncle  Robert." 

"  Well,  come  on,"  said  Uncle  Robert. 
"  I  '11  let  you  have  a  look  at  him.  He's  out 
back  of  the  stable." 

So  they  walked  around  to  find  him,  Wal- 
ter getting  greatly  excited.  Sure  enough, 
there  he  was,  —  a  large  black  goat  with  a 
long  beard  and  two  horns  that  curved  back 


WALTER   AND    THE   GOAT  81 

over  his  head  like  crullers.  He  was  fas- 
tened by  a  rope  to  a  big  post,  and  was  eat- 
ing the  advertisements  out  of  a  newspaper. 
When  he  saw  Uncle  Robert  and  Walter 
coming,  he  cocked  his  eye  at  them,  but  said 
nothing. 

"  Oh,"  cried  Walter,  "  is  n't  he  a  splen- 
did big  goat!  Just  the  kind  I  wanted. 
I  '11  make  him  drag  me  all  over  every- 
where ! " 

The  goat  smiled. 

"Yes,"  said  Walter,  "I  think  he's  even 
big  enough  for  me  to  ride  on  his  back  the 
way  Mabel  does  on  Rex." 

The  goat  bit  a  large  Sapolio  advertise- 
ment out  of  the  newspaper,  and  laughed 
very  softly,  all  to  himself. 

"So  you  like  his  looks,  do  you,  Walter?" 
said  Uncle  Robert.  "Well,  then,  he's  your 
goat,  —  that  is,  of  course,  if  your  Grandma 
says  that  you  can  keep  him.  I  '11  let  you 
take  him  home  with  you  now,  and  you  can 
ask  her  about  it." 

So  Uncle  Robert  unfastened  the  rope 
from  the  post  and  gave  the  end  of  it  to 
Walter      He   took    it,  and  thanked   Uncle 


82    THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

Robert  many  times.  He  was  proud  to 
think  that  he  owned  a  live  goat,  and  he 
thought  to  himself  what  good  times  he 
was  going  to  have  with  him. 

"  Come  on,  Goat !  "  said  he.  "  You  're 
going  to  your  new  home  now.  Come 
on!" 

The  goat  followed  along  very  quietly, 
with  the  rope  around  his  neck.  Walter 
went  out  into  the  road  and  started  off  to- 
wards home,  with  the  goat  following  along 
meekly  behind  him.  Walter  felt  very  large 
and  like  a  man  to  think  that  the  goat  was 
all  his  own.  He  held  his  head  up  very 
high,  and  walked  along  as  happy  as  a  king. 
When  they  got  down  the  road  a  little  way, 
the  goat  suddenly  put  down  his  head  and 
made  a  rush  —  whack  !  plunk  !  he  butted 
Walter  right  in  the  middle  of  the  back  and 
knocked  him  off  his  feet  flat  in  the  dusty 
road. 

"  Oh !  Oh !  "  cried  Walter.    "  I  'm  killed ! " 

He  was  not  really  hurt,  but  his  clothes 
were  all  dust  and  his  face  was  dirty.  When 
he  got  up  again,  the  goat  was  standing 
quietly   by    the    side    of    the    road   eating 


WALTER   AND   THE   GOAT  83 

a  large  burdock-leaf.  He  looked  very 
thoughtful. 

"  I  think  it  must  have  been  an  accident," 
said  Walter,  doubtfully.  "  Perhaps  I  was 
walking  too  slowly,  and  so  he  ran  up  against 
me." 

He  picked  up  the  rope  again  and  called 
to  the  goat  to  come  on.  The  goat  took 
another  bite  of  the  burdock-leaf  and  started 
along  once  more  very  meekly.  Walter 
walked  on,  a  little  anxious  at  first,  but 
pretty  soon  he  began  to  think  of  how  he 
would  astonish  Grandma  and  Mabel  when 
he  reached  home.  Just  then  the  goat  put 
his  head  down  and  made  a  second  rush. 
Whack!  plunk!  he  struck  Walter  right 
in  the  middle  of  the  back  again,  and  this 
time  he  knocked  him  away  over  into  the 
grass  by  the  side  of  the  road.  Walter  was 
thoroughly  frightened  and  began  to  cry. 
He  did  not  dare  to  get  up,  but  just  lay 
there  calling  for  help. 

Uncle  Robert  had  been  watching  the 
two,  and  when  the  goat  first  knocked 
Walter  over,  he  had  walked  down  the 
road  and  followed  him.     He  was  now  very 


84     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

near,  though  neither  the  goat  nor  Walter 
had  seen  him.  When  Walter  began  crying 
for  help,  Uncle  Robert  ran  up.  He  took 
the  rope,  and  with  the  thick  end  of  it  he 
gave  the  goat  a  good  whipping.  The  goat 
bleated  with  fright  and  pain. 

"  There !  take  that,  you  brute  !  "  cried 
Uncle  Robert,  as  he  gave  the  goat  a  last 
blow  across  the  back.  "  If  you  play  any 
more  of  your  tricks,  I'll  tie  you  up  and 
whip  you  with  the  carriage-whip." 

Then  he  picked  up  Walter  and  comforted 
him.  It  was  a  long  time  before  he  could 
persuade  him  to  lead  the  goat  any  more ; 
but  finally  he  succeeded,  and  the  two  went 
on  again.  This  time  the  goat,  who  was 
very  much  afraid  of  Uncle  Robert,  kept 
very  still  and  followed  Walter  quietly  all 
the  way  home,  like  the  best  goat  in  the 
world. 

Grandma  and  Mabel  were  in  the  front- 
yard  when  Walter  led  the  goat  in  and  told 
them  that  this  was  Uncle  Robert's  birthday 
present  to  him.  Grandma  said  that  Walter 
might  keep  him,  and  they  all  went  out 
into  the  back-yard  to  see  where  he  was  to 


WALTER   AND   THE   GOAT  85 

be  put.  Walter  tied  the  goat  to  a  clothes- 
post,  and  brought  him  some  turnips  to 
eat. 

"  To-morrow,"  said  Grandma,  "  I  '11  have 
a  man  come  and  make  a  goat-house  for 
him ;  and  I  '11  get  the  harness-maker  to 
make  a  little  harness.  We  can  buy  a  goat- 
wagon  in  the  village,  and  then  you  '11  be 
all  ready  to  drive  him  around.  But  what  s 
the  matter  with  your  clothes,  Walter? 
They  're  all  covered  with  dust." 

"  I — I — I  fell  down,"  said  Walter,  rather 
sheepishly.  He  was  ashamed  to  say  that 
the  goat  had  butted  him. 

All  that  day  the  goat  stood  in  the  yard 
as  quiet  as  could  be.  The  children  gave 
him  his  supper  at  night  and  some  water 
to  drink,  and  when  they  went  to  bed  he 
seemed  to  be  quite  satisfied  with  his  new 
home.  The  lights  were  all  put  out  and 
the  whole  family  were  just  getting  to  sleep, 
when  they  heard  a  fearful  noise  in  the 
yard. 

"  M-m-a-a-a ! " 

Every  one  sat  up  in  bed  to  listen. 

"  M-m-a-a-a ! " 


86     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

"  Oh !  oh !  what 's  the  matter  ?  "  cried  out 
Walter,  in  a  frightened  voice,  from  his  room. 

"  I  think  it 's  the  goat,"  said  Grandma. 
"  You  'd  better  put  on  your  clothes  and  go 
out  and  see." 

Walter  slipped  on  his  trousers,  and  ran 
down  into  the  yard.  Just  as  he  went  out 
of  the  door,  the  noise  was  heard  a  third 
time  — 

"  M-m-a-a-a  I " 

It  was  the  goat. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Walter, 
when  he  reached  the  place  where  the  goat 
was  tied.     "  Are  you  feeling  sick  ?  " 

The  goat  said  nothing.  He  looked  as 
calm  as  could  be  as  he  stood  there  in  the 
moonlight.  There  was  nothing  the  matter 
with  him. 

"  Don't  do  that  again,"  said  Walter. 
"  You  '11  keep  us  all  awake." 

The  goat  said  nothing.  Walter  went 
back  into  the  house,  and  got  back  into  bed. 
Just  as  he  was  getting  asleep  again,  the 
goat  began  once  more  — 

"  M-m-a-a-a ! " 

This  time  he  roared  it  in  a  deep  voice 


WALTER   AND    THE    GOAT  87 

like  a  great  horn ;  and  in  a  few  minutes 
he  repeated  it. 

"  This  is  fearful ! "  said  Grandma.  "  Wal- 
ter, go  out  again  and  see  if  you  can't  stop 
him." 

So  Walter  went  out  a  second  time,  and 
talked  with  the  goat,  who  kept  very  still 
till  Walter  was  gone,  and  then  he  began 
again.  All  night  long  he  bleated  and  bel- 
lowed, and  neither  Grandma,  nor  Mabel, 
nor  Walter  got  any  sleep  at  all. 

In  the  morning  they  all  went  out  again 
and  argued  with  the  goat,  and  scolded  him 
till  he  looked  as  though  he  was  ashamed ; 
and  then  Walter  gave  him  some  breakfast. 

"  Perhaps  he  was  hungry,"  said  Walter. 
"  To-night  I  '11  leave  him  some  food  to  eat 
when  I  go  to  bed." 

All  that  day  the  goat  kept  very  still. 
The  harness  was  not  yet  ready  for  him,  so 
Walter  could  not  make  any  use  of  him,  but 
just  amused  himself  watching  the  goat 
eat  and  drink.  At  night  he  left  a  pile 
of  chopped-up  vegetables  by  the  side  of 
the  clothes-post ;  and  every  one  went  to  bed 
feeling  sure  that  the  goat  would  be  quiet 


88     THE   ADVENTURES    OF    MABEL 

and  not  disturb  them.  But  as  soon  as  the 
lights  were  out,  he  began  his  noise  again, 
bleating  and  bellowing  just  as  before.  At 
last  Grandma  got  up  and  dressed  herself, 
and  she  and  Walter  went  out  and  unfas- 
tened the  goat  and  led  him  down  to  the 
orchard,  further  away  from  the  house,  and 
fastened  him  to  a  peg  in  the  ground.  After 
that  he  kept  bleating;  but  they  did  n't  mind 
it  so  much  because  it  did  n't  seem  so 
loud. 

The  next  morning  the  harness-maker 
brought  the  harness,  and  the  goat-wagon 
also  came.     Walter  was  greatly  excited. 

"  Now  then  !  "  he  said,  "  I  'm  going  to 
have  some  fun." 

He  led  the  goat  into  the  yard,  and  put 
his  harness  on.  First  he  put  the  bridle  on 
the  goat's  head,  then  he  fastened  on  the 
straps  around  the  goat's  body,  and  finally 
he  hitched  the  traces  to  the  wagon.  He 
took  the  whip  in  his  hands,  and  got  up  on 
the  wagon-seat  and  picked  up  the  reins. 

"Hurrah!"  he  cried.  "This  is  better 
than  a  horse !  Just  see  me  drive !  "  Then 
he  said  to  the  goat,  "  Get  up !  " 


WALTER   AND    THE   GOAT  89 

But  the  goat  did  n't  stir.  He  just  waited, 
and  stood  perfectly  still. 

"  Get  up  !  "  said  Walter  again. 

The  goat  never  budged.  Then  Walter 
grew  very  angry  and  lifted  his  whip  and 
struck  the  goat  over  the  back  as  hard 
as  he  could. 

"  Get  up  !  "  he  cried. 

Like  lightning  the  goat  gave  a  great 
jump.  He  put  his  head  down  and  made 
one  rush  across  the  yard,  lickety-split,  slam- 
bang,  over  humps  and  hillocks,  jouncing 
the  goat-wagon  so  that  it  nearly  upset. 

"  Whoa !  Whoa  !  "  cried  Walter,  fright- 
ened half  to  death. 

But  the  goat  kept  on  whirling  around 
and  around,  and  tearing  back  again  the 
same  way  he  had  come,  jumpety-jump,  till 
all  of  a  sudden  the  wagon  struck  the 
clothes-post  and  split  in  two.  One  wheel 
went  one  way,  and  another  another,  the  seat 
flew  up,  and  Walter  was  thrown  like  a 
cannon-ball  across  the  yard,  striking  on  his 
face.  The  harness  broke,  and  the  goat 
was  set  free;  but  he  still  kept  dashing 
about  till  he  had  rushed  through  Grandma's 


90    THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

flower-beds  and  trampled  all  her  flowers 
down  under  his  hoofs.  Then  he  stopped 
and  gave  a  tremendous  bleat  — - 

"  M-m-a-a-a !  " 

Grandma  ran  and  picked  up  Walter. 
His  clothing  was  torn  and  covered  with 
dust,  and  his  face  was  cut  open  so  that 
the  blood  streamed  down  his  cheeks  and 
smeared  them  all  over  red.  He  screamed 
with  fright  and  pain.  Grandma  took  him 
in  her  arms  and  carried  him  into  the  house. 
She  washed  his  face,  and  put  on  a  big  piece 
of  court-plaster,  changed  his  coat,  and  then 
got  him  to  lie  down  on  the  sofa.  Then 
she  went  out  and  took  the  goat  back  into 
the  orchard,  and  tied  him  once  more  to  the 
peg  in  the  ground.  Coming  back  to  the 
house  she  put  on  her  bonnet. 

■  "  I  'm  going  down  to  Uncle  Robert's," 
she  said  to  Mabel,  "  to  ask  him  to  come 
and  take  the  goat  back  again.  I  never 
saw  such  a  dreadful  animal.  We  have  n't 
had  a  moment's  peace  since  he  came ! " 

Mabel  was  very  serious. 

"  Very  well,  Grandma,"  she  said  ;  "  but 
the  goat  will  never  be  bad  again." 


'       la      ->    J    "      ! 


> » 


•    ».  •  '    *, 


^\ 


The  goat  kept  on  whirling  around  and  around. 


< 


WALTER   AND   THE   GOAT  91 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Mabel  ? M  asked 
Grandma. 

"  I  'm  going  to  talk  to  him  while  you 
are  away,"  said  Mabel;  "and  I  promise  that 
when  you  come  back  he  will  be  a  good  goat." 

"  Nonsense,  Mabel !  "  said  Grandma, 
sharply.  "What  good  is  it  talking  to  a 
goat  —  and  such  a  goat  ?  " 

"  Never  mind,  Grandma,"  said  Mabel. 
"  You  wait  and  see." 

As  soon  as  Grandma  was  out  of  sight, 
Mabel  went  down  into  the  orchard.  There 
was  the  goat  tied  to  the  peg.  When  he 
saw  her  coming  he  cocked  one  eye  impu- 
dently and  laughed. 

"M-m-a-a-a!"  he  said.  He  was  very 
proud  of  what  he  had  done. 

"  Goat,"  said  Mabel,  looking  him  straight 
in  the  face,  "  you  have  been  a  very  bad 
goat.  We  have  been  good  to  you,  and  fed 
you,  and  petted  you,  and  you  have  done 
everything  you  could  that  was  naughty. 
You  have  kept  us  awake  all  night,  and 
now  you  have  hurt  Walter,  and  broken  his 
wagon,  and  trampled  down  Grandma's 
flower-beds.     How  can  you  be  so  bad  ?" 

7 


92     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

The  goat  looked  very  saucy,  and  wrinkled 
up  his  nose. 

"  M-m-a-a-a  I "  he  said,  as  loud  as  he 
could. 

"  Now,  Goat,"  said  Mabel,  "  if  you  keep 
on  being  naughty,  you  '11  be  very  sorry. 
I  am  going  to  stop  you  from  ever  doing 
anything  bad  again.     I  will  — " 

"  M-m-a-a-a !  "  bellowed  the  goat. 

11  Stop  !  "  cried  Mabel.  "  Don't  you  bleat 
again !  " 

"  M-m-a-a-a !  "  bellowed  the  goat. 

"  All  right  for  you  !  "  said  Mabel.  "  Now 
I  'm  going  to  punish  you." 

"  M-m-a-a-a !  "  bellowed  the  goat,  and  he 
put  down  his  head  and  tried  to  butt  her. 

Mabel  did  n't  say  another  word,  but  ran 
back  to  the  house  and  put  on  her  sun- 
bonnet.  Then  she  went  straight  down  to 
the  woods.  When  she  got  there,  she  looked 
all  around  and  whistled  the  Lizard's  call  as 
loud  as  she  could.  The  first  time  she 
whistled  she  got  no  answer;  but  when  she 
whistled  the  second  time,  she  heard  a  big 
deep  growl  away  off  in  the  distance,  and 
pretty  soon  footsteps  pattering  among  the 


WALTER   AND    THE    GOAT  93; 

dried  leaves  on  the  ground.  Then  a  great 
black  head  was  thrust  out  of  the  bushes, 
and  the  Good  Wolf  came  trotting  up  to 
her. 

"  Do  you  want  me  ?  "  growled  he,  in  his 
deep  rough  voice. 

"  Yes,  I  want  you  right  away,"  said  Mabel. 
"  I  want  you  to  come  with  me  to  my  house. 
No  one  will  see  you  except  a  bad  goat,  and 
I  want  you  to  help  me  punish  him." 

"  Can  I  eat  him  up  ? "  asked  the  Wolf 
eagerly,  beginning  to  lick  his  chops. 

"  No,"  said  Mabel ;  "  not  unless  I  tell 
you  to.  I  want  you  to  hide  in  the  currant- 
bushes,  and  when  I  whistle,  run  out  and 
pretend  you  are  going  to  eat  him  up.  Look 
as  fierce  as  you  can,  but  don't  really  touch 
him  unless  I  say  so." 

11  All  right,"  growled  the  Wolf ;  "  but  I  'd 
rather  eat  him  anyway." 

So  the  Wolf  went  along  with  Mabel  to 
the  house,  and  followed  her  down  near  the 
orchard,  where  he  hid  in  the  currant-bushes. 
Then  Mabel  walked  up  to  the  goat  again. 
'  "  Goat,"  she  said,  shaking  her  little  fin- 
ger at  him.     "  This  is  the  last  time  I  'm  go* 


94       THE   ADVENTURES    OF    MABEL 

ing  to  ask  you  to  be  good.  If  you  don't 
mind,  I  '11  make  you  so  sorry  that  you  '11 
never  forget  it  as  long  as  you  live." 

"  M-m-a-a-a !  "  bellowed  the  goat,  and  tried 
to  butt  her  with  his  horns. 

Mabel  gave  a  loud  whistle.  In  half  a 
second,  out  from  the  currant-bushes  rushed 
the  great  black  Wolf,  his  hair  bristling  up 
all  over  his  body,  his  eyes  blazing  like  coals 
of  fire,  his  big  mouth  wide  open,  and  his  long 
white  teeth  gleaming.  He  made  a  plunge 
toward  the  goat.  The  goat  gave  one  look, 
and  then  began  to  scream  with  terror.  His 
eyes  nearly  popped  out  of  his  head,  and  the 
end  of  his  nose  turned  as  white  as  a  sheet. 

"  Stop,  Wolf ! "  cried  Mabel,  raising  her 
hand. 

The  Wolf  stopped.  His  jaws  were  close 
to  the  goat's  face,  and  he  gave  a  roar  that 
made  the  goat's  blood  run  cold. 

"  Now,  Goat,"  said  Mabel,  "  perhaps  you 
will  believe  me  next  time.  Here  is  a  wolf 
who  will  eat  you  up  in  a  minute  if  I  tell 
him  to.     Do  you  want  to  be  eaten  ?  " 

"  No-o-o  !  "  screamed  the  goat. 

"  Then   you  Ve   got  to  promise  to  be  a 


WALTER   AND   THE   GOAT 


95 


good  goat  hereafter.  Are  you  sorry  for 
being  so  naughty  ?  " 

"  Y-e-s  !  "  bleated  the  goat.  He  was  shak- 
ing like  a  leaf. 

"  Will  you  promise  to  let  Walter  ride  you 
and  drive  you  whenever  he  wants  to  ?  " 

11  Y-e-e-s  !  "  bleated  the  goat. 

"Will  you  promise  never  to  make  a 
sound  in  the  night  ?  " 

"  Y-e-e-s  !  "  bleated  the  goat.  Then  he 
knelt  down  and  put  his  head  between 
Mabel's  feet  and  shivered. 

"Well,  Wolf,"  said  Mabel,  "you  hear 
what  the  goat  has  promised.  Now  if  he 
breaks  his  promise,  I  will  send  for  you 
again,  and  the  next  time  you  can  eat  him 
up  every  bit." 

The  Wolf  gave  a  terrible  growl  that 
made  the  goat  nearly  jump  out  of  his 
skin. 

"  All  right !  "  said  the  Wolf. 

"  Good-bye,  now,"  said  Mabel ;  and  the 
Wolf  turned  around  and  went  slowly  off 
through  the  fields  into  the  woods.  When 
he  had  gone,  the  goat  looked  up  and  bleated 
pitifully  to   Mabel.     Just  at  that   moment 


96       THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

Grandma  came  in  at  the  front-yard.  Mabel 
called  her. 

"  Uncle  Robert  was  n't  home,"  said 
Grandma ;  "  so  we  '11  have  to  wait  till  to- 
morrow." 

"  Never  mind,  Grandma,"  said  Mabel. 
"  You  know  I  told  you  that  the  goat  would 
never  be  bad  again.  Well,  he  won't.  Just 
see." 

Then  Mabel  untied  the  goat  and  got 
up  on  his  back. 

"  Trot,"  she  said  to  the  goat. 

He  trotted  quietly  around  the  meadow 
and  came  back  again  to  where  Grandma 
was  standing. 

"Dear  me!  Dear  me!"  said  Grandma. 
"  Why,  he  seems  like  another  goat !  " 

"  Now  follow  us  quietly  to  the  house," 
said  Mabel. 

The  goat  followed  them.  They  called 
Walter  down  and  told  him  to  get  on  the 
goat's  back.  For  a  long  time  he  was  afraid 
to  do  so,  but  finally  he  tried  it,  and  let  the 
goat  trot  around  with  him.  When  he  told 
the  goat  to  stop,  he  stopped ;  and  he  minded 
every  word  that  Walter  said  to  him. 


WALTER   AND    THE   GOAT 


97 


"  Now,"  said  Mabel ;  "  you  get  the  goat- 
wagon  and  the  harness  mended,  and  you  '11 
never  have  any  trouble  with  the  goat  again 
as  long  as  he  lives." 

"  Well,  this  is  wonderful !  "  said  Grandma. 
"  What  on  earth  did  you  do  to  him  while 
I  was  away,  to  make  him  so  good  ?  " 

"  Oh,"  said  Mabel,  smiling  a  little  to  her 
self,  "  I  just  talked  to  him." 


VII.  THE  GREY  RAT  UNDER  THE  PUMP 


IN  the  yard  at  one  side  of  the  house 
where  Mabel  lived  stood  a  large 
wooden  pump  with  a  long  handle.  It 
was  set  upon  a  sort  of  platform  which  was 
very  old,  so  that  the  sides  of  it  were  begin- 
ning to  crumble  away,  and  there  was  quite 
a  large  hole  in  it.  One  morning,  just  after 
breakfast,  Mabel  was  standing  at  the  din- 
ing-room window  and  looking  into  the  yard, 
when  all  of  a  sudden  she  called  to  Walter. 

"  Oh,  Walter !  "  she  said.  "  Look  here  ! 
There  s  a  rat  coming  out  of  the  hole  under 
the  pump ! " 

Sure  enough  there  was  a  rat,  —  a  large  rat 
with  a  long  tail,  a  sharp  pointed  nose,  and 
whiskers  that  stood  out  straight  on  each 
side  of  its  face.     It  was  a  very  old  rat,  for 


GREY  RAT  UNDER  THE  PUMP   99 

its  fur  had  turned  grey,  and  it  looked  very 
wise.  Mabel  and  Walter  watched  it  poking 
its  head  out  of  the  hole  under  the  pump,  at 
first  very  cautiously,  and  then,  when  it  saw 
no  one  there,  creeping  into  the  grass.  It 
went  smelling  about  until  at  last  it  found  a 
bit  of  apple  that  lay  near  by.  Then  it  gave 
two  funny  little  squeaks,  and  all  of  a  sudden 
out  from  the  hole  ran  two  little  baby  rats. 
They  trotted  up  to  the  old  rat,  who  gave 
them  the  bit  of  apple  to  eat.  They  poked 
their  little  noses  into  it,  and  nibbled  away 
as  hard  as  they  could. 

"  Oh,  are  n't  they  cunning  I  "  cried  Mabel, 
as  she  watched  them.  "They  must  live 
under  the  pump." 

"  Yes,"  said  Walter,  "  and  I  tell  you  what 
I  '11  do.  When  they  go  back  I  '11  get  Jane 
to  give  me  a  pail  of  hot  water  to  pour  down 
the  hole  and  kill  them." 

Mabel's  eyes  grew  very  big  and  her  face 
very  red. 

"What,  kill  the  little  rats?"  she  cried. 
"  Walter,  how  can  you  be  so  cruel  ?  They 
don't  do  us  any  harm.  They  live  out  in  the 
yard,  and  only  eat  what  they  find    in  the 


\ 


ioo     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

grass.  It  would  be  just  wicked  to  hurt 
them ! " 

"  Well,  I  'm  going  to  do  it  all  the  same," 
said  Walter.     "  They  're  only  rats." 

"  Never  mind,"  said  Mabel ;  "  you  Ve  no 
right  \S  be  cruel  to  them  even  if  they  are 
rats,  so  long  as  they  're  not  doing  any  harm, 
has  he,  Grandma  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not,"  said  Grandma ;  "  and 
don't  let  me  hear  of  your  touching  them, 
Walter.  If  you  do,  I  shall  punish  you. 
You  seem  altogether  too  ready  to  hurt  any 
harmless  little  creatures." 

So  that  settled  that;  and  pretty  soon 
Mabel  took  some  pieces  of  broiled  bacon  off 
the  breakfast-table,  and  a  bit  of  cheese  from 
the  closet,  and  went  out  into  the  yard.  When 
the  rats  saw  her,  they  all  ran  back  to  the 
hole ;  but  she  went  up  to  it  very  softly  and 
put  the  bacon  and  the  cheese  down  by  the 
opening,  where  the  rats  could  smell  how 
good  they  were ;  and  then  she  whistled  the 
Lizard's  call  and  stepped  back  a  little  way. 
In  a  minute  the  old  grey  rat  poked  its 
nose  out  and  looked  about. 

"  Come,  you  good  rat,"  said  Mabel.     "  I 


>   >  '  ' 


.   > 

4  »  *  • 


GREY  RAT  UNDER  THE  PUMP   101 

won't  hurt  you.  I  '11  bring  you  something 
to  eat  every  morning  after  this." 

So  the  three  rats  all  crept  out  and  made  a 
fine  meal  of  the  bacon  and  cheese ;  for  these 
are  the  things  that  rats  love  better  than  any- 
thing else  in  the  world.  As  they  ate,  they 
looked  at  Mabel  now  and  then,  and  squeaked 
little  squeaks  which  meant  "  thank  you  "  in 
rat-talk. 

Mabel  watched  them  quite  a  long  while, 
and  then  Grandma  called  her  in  to  help 
dust  the  upstairs  rooms.  Grandma  thought 
that  Mabel  was  already  old  enough  to  begin 
to  learn  how  to  take  care  of  a  house;  so 
twice  a  week  she  had  her  take  a  little  dust- 
cloth  and  a  small  broom  and  whisk  around 
the  rooms  with  them.  Mabel  loved  to  do 
this,  and  she  rubbed  the  backs  of  the  chairs 
and  polished  the  tables  until  there  was  n't 
a  speck  of  dust  to  be  seen ;  and  with  her 
broom  she  swept  away  any  spiders'  webs 
that  she  could  find  in  the  corners  of  the 
wall.  She  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble  with 
the  spiders'  webs,  because  there  were  four 
brown  spiders  that  lived  in  the  house,  and 
they  were  not  satisfied  with  having  the  gar- 


102     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

ret  to  themselves,  where  nobody  disturbed 
them,  but  used  to  come  down  into  the  bed- 
rooms and  spin  cobwebs  whenever  they 
could.  Mabel  always  brushed  these  down  ; 
and  so  the  four  brown  spiders  hated  her, 
and  would  have  liked  to  do  her  some  harm 
if  they  could.  On  this  particular  morning, 
Mabel  found  four  spiders'  webs  in  Grand- 
ma's bed-room,  for  each  of  the  brown 
spiders  had  spun  one  during  the  night ;  and 
she  swept  them  all  down  with  her  broom. 
The  four  spiders  were  very  angry  at  this ; 
and  as  they  sat  in  the  garret  they  talked 
about  it  to  each  other,  and  declared  that  if 
they  ever  had  a  chance  they  would  get  even 
with  her ;  for  they  were  very  bad  spiders. 

That  afternoon  about  three  o'clock, 
Grandma  had  to  take  Walter  to  the  town 
for  a  pair  of  new  shoes,  and  as  it  was  Thurs- 
day, Jane  was  to  be  out;  so  Grandma  left 
Mabel  at  home  to  look  after  the  house. 

"  I  '11  be  back  in  about  two  hours,"  said 
Grandma.  "  I  may  want  to  make  a  call  or 
two  on  the  way  home." 

When  she  had  gone,  Mabel  played  in  the 
nursery  for  awhile ;  but  it  was  so  warm  in 


GREY  RAT  UNDER  THE  PUMP   103 

the  house  that  she  soon  went  out  into  the 
yard  and  sat  down  under  the  big  tree  on  the 
lawn.  It  was  a  sultry  summer  afternoon. 
The  sun  was  very  hot,  and  there  was 
scarcely  a  breath  of  air.  The  bees  hummed 
in  the  flower-beds ;  the  locusts  made  a  lazy 
sound  in  the  branches  overhead  ;  and  every- 
thing seemed  drowsy.  The  shade  of  the 
tree  was  so  pleasant,  and  the  grass  was  so 
soft,  that  little  by  little  Mabel  felt  her  blue 
eyes  closing  and  her  head  nodding.  Grad- 
ually she  leaned  further  and  further  back 
until  she  had  stretched  herself  on  the 
grass,  and  in  a  few  minutes  she  was  sound 
asleep. 

The  four  brown  spiders  were  sitting  up 
in  the  garret-window  looking  out  into  the 
yard  and  watching  Mabel.  When  she  went 
to  sleep,  they  all  knew  it. 

"  Ha !  "  said  the  First  Spider.  "  There 
she  is  now,  sound  asleep.  And  it  s  going 
to  rain,  too.     She  '11  get  wet." 

Sure  enough,  a  great  black  cloud  was  com- 
ing up  from  the  South  and  was  spreading 
slowly  over  the  whole  sky.  As  the  spiders 
spoke,  a  low  rumble  of  thunder  was  heard. 


104     THE   ADVENTURES    OF    MABEL 

"  I  hope  she  will,"  said  the  Second  Spider, 

"  I  hope   she  11    get   soaking   wet.     And  / 

shouldn't  be  sorry  if  the  lightning  struck 

her." 

"  Nor  I,"  said  the  Third  Spider,  "  only  it 

won't.     But   why  can't   we   do   something 

ourselves.     She 's  asleep  and  would  n't  see 

us  coming.     Let 's  all  go  down  and  bite  her 

hand." 

"  No,  no,"  said  the  Fourth  Spider,  who 
was  older  than  the  others  and  knew  a  great 
deal ;  "  that  would  n't  be  safe,  because  she  'd 
wake  right  up  before  we  could  get  away; 
and  then  she  'd  see  us  and  step  on  us.  No, 
no !  But  there  's  something  we  could  do. 
We  could  tie  her  up  tight  in  a  cobweb  so 
that  she  could  n't  get  up  ;  and  then  when  the 
rain  came  it  would  pour  all  over  her  and 
wet  her  to  the  bones,  and  give  her  a  bad 
cold,  so  that  she  'd  have  to  stay  in  bed ;  and 
then  we  could  go  all  over  the  house  and 
spin  webs  wherever  we  like." 

"  Pooh  ! "  said  the  First  Spider.  "  That 's 
all  nonsense.  We  could  n't  spin  any  webs 
big  enough  to  hold  her  down.  She  'd  break 
them  in  a  jiffy." 


GREY  RAT  UNDER  THE  PUMP   105 

"  Of  course  we  could  n't,"  answered  the 
Fourth  Spider ;  "  but  I  know  who  could." 

"  Who  ?  "  cried  the  other  three  spiders  all 
together. 

"  Why,  the  King  Spider,  of  course.  Don't 
you  know  he  's  so  big  that  he  can  spin  webs 
as  thick  as  packing-thread,  and  that  a  little 
girl  like  that  could  n't  break  them  ?  " 

"  Good  I  Good  !"  cried  all  the  spiders,  clap- 
ping their  claws.  "  That 's  a  splendid  idea ! 
You  know  where  the  King  Spider  lives, 
don't  you  ?  Come  on,  and  we  '11  get  him  to 
do  it  for  us  !  " 

So  they  slid  off  the  sill  of  the  garret- 
window,  and  crept  swiftly  down  through  the 
house  till  they  reached  the  yard.  The 
Fourth  Spider  led  the  way  past  Mabel,  past 
the  barn,  out  into  the  orchard,  and  then  over 
a  stone  wall  into  the  open  field  beyond.  It 
was  a  large  lonely  field  full  of  bushes  and 
small  scrubby  trees,  and  was  near  to  the 
woods  where  the  Good  Wolf  lived. 

"This  is  the  King  Spider's  field,"  said 
the  Fourth  Spider.     "  He  owns   it  all." 

Then  he  led  them  to  one  corner  of  the 
field  where  there  was  a  dense  mass  of  thick- 

8 


io6     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

leaved  weeds  and  wild  plants.  There,  under 
a  huge  burdock-leaf  that  spread  out  like  a 
green  umbrella,  sat  the  great  King  Spider. 
He  was  an  enormous  creature,  with  a  body 
as  big  as  a  footstool,  and  legs  as  long  as 
a  pikestaff.  He  had  monstrous  claws  and 
a  mouth  like  an  oyster;  but  he  looked  rather 
good-natured  as  he  sat  there  in  the  shadow 
of  his  leaf  eating  a  large  blue-bottle  fly. 

The  four  brown  spiders  walked  slowly 
up  to  him.  They  were  very  bashful,  for 
they  had  never  spoken  to  a  King  Spider 
before,  and  only  the  Fourth  Spider  had  even 
so  much  as  seen  him. 

"  What  do  you  want  ?  "  asked  the  King 
Spider. 

The  four  spiders  hardly  knew  how  to 
begin.  They  nudged  each  other,  and  shifted 
around  on  their  legs.  Finally,  the  Fourth 
Spider  started  in  as  well   as  he  could. 

"  O  King  of  all  the  Spiders,"  he  said,  "  we 
have  come  to  ask  your  help.  A  girl  has 
been  very  cruel  to  us.  She  has  broken  our 
webs,  and  driven  us  out  of  many  pleasant 
places  with  brooms ;  and  she  is  a  dangerous 
and  dreadful  creature.     Now  she  lies  asleep 


GREY  RAT  UNDER  THE  PUMP   107 

under  a  tree,  and  we  ask  your  help  to  pun- 
ish her.  Come,  O  King  of  all  the  Spiders, 
and  spin  around  her  a  web  as  strong  as  pack- 
ing-thread, so  that  she  cannot  get  up  again 
when  she  wakes,  but  may  lie  there  and 
think  about  the  wicked  things  that  she  has 
done  to  us,  the  four  brown  spiders! " 

i  The  King  Spider  swallowed  the  left  fore- 
leg of  the  blue-bottle  fly,  and  then  coughed 
slightly. 

11 1  don't  like  to  meddle  with  human  be- 
ings," he  said.  "But  I  suppose  you  don't 
mean  to  do  her  any  great  harm." 

"No,  O  King,"  said  the  Fourth  Spider; 
"  we  are  too  weak  to  do  her  harm ;  but  we 
ask  you  to  help  us  punish  her,  so  that  she 
may  fear  the  spiders  hereafter,  and  not  do 
wrong  to  them  or  to  their  webs." 

"  If  I  help  you,"  said  the  King  Spider, 
"  you  must  reward  me ;  for  this  is  the  Law 
of  the  Spiders." 

"  Yes,  O  King,"  said  the  Fourth  Spider. 
"  What  shall  we  do  to  please  you  ?  " 

"  You  must  each  of  you  bring  me  every 
day  for  a  week  a  live  fly,"  said  the  King 
Spider,  thoughtfully ;   "  a  fat,  fresh   fly  that 


108     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

nas  been  fed  in  a  house.  Only  for  this  will 
I  give  you  any  help." 

"We  promise,"  said  all  of  the  spiders. 
"  Every  day  for  a  week  will  we  bring,  each 
of  us,  a  live  fly,  fat,  fresh,  and  fed  in  a  house. 
We  promise  this." 

"  Cross  your  hearts,"  said  the  King  Spider. 
And  they  all  four  crossed  their  hearts. 

Then  the  King  Spider  came  out  from  his 
shady  nook ;  and  the  four  spiders  showed 
him  the  way  through  the  orchard  into  the 
yard,  where  Mabel  still  lay  very  sound 
asleep  under  the  big  tree. 

"  There  she  is,"  said  the  four  spiders. 

"  Good  !  "  said  the  King  Spider. 

He  went  up  to  her  and  began  to  spin. 
First,  he  spun  a  great  web  around  her  feet, 
back  and  forth,  round  and  round,  strong  and 
fast,  —  a  web  as  thick  as  a  packing-thread. 
Then  he  spun  a  web  about  her  legs,  then 
about  her  arms,  and  then  around  her  neck. 
When  it  was  done,  he  fastened  the  ends  to 
the  trunks  of  the  tree  and  to  the  limbs  over- 
head. It  was  a  strong,  stout  web,  and  he 
made  it  tight  and  firm.  The  four  spiders 
watched  him,  wondering  at  the  size  of  the 


GREY  RAT  UNDER  THE  PUMP   109 

threads,  and  at  the  quick  way  in  which  he 
worked.  Some  of  the  barn-spiders  also 
came  out  and  looked  on. 

"There!"  said  the  King  Spider.  "  It  s 
done." 

"  We  thank  you,  O  King,"  said  the  four 
spiders,  bowing ;  "  and  we  will  remember 
our  promise." 

Then  the  King  Spider  left  them  and  went 
back  to  his  home  under  the  burdock-leaf.  The 
four  spiders  hurried  into  the  house,  and  up 
to  the  garret-window  to  watch  ;  for  the  storm 
was  coming,  and  they  were  afraid  of  getting 
wet.  In  fact,  by  this  time,  the  sky  was 
black  as  ink,  and  the  lightning  was  begin- 
ning to  flash.  Before  long  the  storm  would 
burst  upon  the  yard.  Louder  and  louder 
the  thunder  began  to  roll,  and  a  strong  wind 
made  the  leaves  in  the  trees  rustle.  Sud- 
denly, as  the  storm  came  nearer,  a  great 
crash  of  thunder  pealed  out  like  the  roar  of 
a  cannon.  It  was  so  loud  that  it  waked 
Mabel,  and  she  opened  her  eyes. 

"  Oh  !  "  she  said,  "  I  Ve  been  asleep.  Dear 
me !  It 's  going  to  rain ;  I  must  go  into  the 
house." 


no     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

She  tried  to  lift  her  head  ;  but  it  was  fast- 
ened tight  to  the  ground.  She  could  not 
stir  it.  She  tried  to  put  her  hand  up  to  her 
head  to  feel  what  it  was  that  held  her  down ; 
but  she  could  not  even  move  her  fingers. 
She  tried  to  pull  her  little  legs  up  ;  but  they, 
too,  seemed  to  have  grown  fast  to  the  ground. 
A  dreadful  feeling  of  helplessness  came  over 
her.     She  was  terribly  frightened. 

"  Oh,  dear !  Oh,  dear !  "  she  cried.  "  What 
has  happened  to  me?  I  feel  as  though  I 
were  fastened  down." 

A  fiery  streak  of  lightning  blazed  across 
the  sky  like  the  red  tongue  of  a  wild  beast, 
and  soon  after  came  a  crash  of  thunder  that 
shook  the  very  earth.  Mabel  screamed 
with  terror. 

"  Help  !  Help  !  "  she  cried.     "  Oh,  help  !  " 

Grandma  and  Walter  and  Jane  were  not 
there  to  hear  her;  but  one  little  friend  of 
hers  was  near  by.  The  Grey  Rat  under  the 
pump  was  just  poking  its  nose  out  of  the 
hole  to  get  a  whiff  of  the  cool  breeze,  when 
Mabel's  cry  for  help  came  to  its  ears. 

"  What 's  that  ?  "  said  the  Grey  Rat. 

"  Help  !  Help  !  "  called  Mabel. 


GREY  RAT  UNDER  THE  PUMP   in 

"Why,  it's  Mabel!"  said  the  Grey  Rat. 
It  ran  quickly  out  from  under  the  pump, 
and  looked  around.  There  lay  Mabel  under 
the  tree,  crying  and  calling  as  loud  as  she 
could.  The  Grey  Rat  ran  up  to  her,  and  in 
a  minute  saw  that  she  was  fastened  down. 

"Help!  Help!"  called  Mabel. 

"  I  'm  here,"  said  the  Grey  Rat,  standing 
by  her  face.     "  I  '11  help  you." 

The  Rat  rushed  at  the  thick  spider-webs 
and  took  them  in  its  mouth.  Its  teeth  were 
as  sharp  as  little  knives.  Snip !  snip ! 
snip !  and  the  web  around  Mabel's  neck  was 
cut.     She  lifted  up  her  head. 

"  Why !  "  she  cried.     "  It 's  you  !  " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Rat,  rushing  at  the  web 
around  her  waist. 

"Hurry!"  cried  Mabel.  The  thunder 
crashed  again.  The  wind  roared  in  the 
tree-tops. 

The  Rat  worked  like  a  beaver  —  snip ! 
snip  !  snip  !  The  web  around  Mabel's  waist 
gave  way,  then  the  web  around  her  legs, 
and  last  of  all  the  web  around  her  feet. 

"  Done  !  "  cried  the  Grey  Rat.  "  Now  up 
and  run !  " 


ii2     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

Mabel  rose  quickly  to  her  feet  and  made 
a  dash  for  the  house.  The  Grey  Rat  ran 
swiftly  down  the  hole  under  the  pump. 
Scarcely  were  they  both  under  cover  when 
a  terrific  blaze  of  lightning  hissed  across 
the  sky,  a  fearful  crash  of  thunder  bellowed, 
and  a  torrent  of  rain  came  swishing  down 
like  a  cataract. 

Five  minutes  later,  Grandma  and  Walter 
rushed  in  at  the  front-door,  streaming  with 
water.  They  had  been  caught  in  the 
rain. 

"Oh,  Mabel !"  cried  Grandma.  "What 
an  awful  rain  !  Why,  what  's  the  matter  ? 
You  look  so  strange,  —  your  eyes  are  as  big 
as  tea-plates ! " 

"  Grandma,"  said  Mabel,  and  her  voice 
trembled,  "  a  very  strange  thing  happened 
to  me  while  you  were  away.  I  fell  asleep 
under  the  tree  in  the  yard,  and  when  I 
woke  up  I  was  fastened  tight  to  the 
ground  by  threads.  I  could  n't  get  up ;  and 
if  the  Grey  Rat  from  under  the  pump  had  n't 
come  and  bitten  the  threads,  I  should  have 
been  kept  there  in  all  this  rain." 

Grandma  smiled. 


GREY   RAT   UNDER   THE   PUMP      113 

"  Well,  Mabel,"  she  said,  "  you  Ve  evi- 
dently been  dreaming."  But  just  at  that 
moment  she  caught  sight  of  something  on 
Mabel's  dress. 

"What's  this?"  she  said,  as  she  picked 
it  off.  It  was  a  great  knot  of  spiders'  webs 
as  thick  as  a  packing-thread.  "  And  here  's 
more !  "  she  cried,  looking  at  Mabel's  feet. 
Last  of  all  she  found  a  big  web  on  Mabel's 
neck. 

"  Spiders,"  she  said,  and  then  stopped. 

She  did  not  talk  about  it  any  more ;  but  all 
that  day  she  had  a  very  curious  look  on  her 
face.  The  next  morning  she  took  a  broom 
and  went  over  the  whole  house  hunting  for 
spiders.  She  even  went  into  the  garret,  and 
there  she  found  the  four  brown  spiders  sit- 
ting on  the  window-sill.  When  they  saw 
her  coming,  they  slid  out  of  the  window 
and  down  the  side  of  the  house.  They 
knew  that  they  could  never  come  back 
again.  They  went  to  the  barn  and  tried  to 
make  a  home  for  themselves  there ;  but  the 
barn-spiders,  who  were  big  and  fierce,  drove 
them  out.  So  after  that  they  had  to  live  in 
the  orchard,  where  they  were  often  rained 


ii4       THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

on,  and  got  very  little  to  eat.  They  could 
not  pay  the  King  Spider  the  flies  they  had 
promised  him ;  so  that  one  day  when  he  saw 
them  he  caught  them  in  his  big  claws  and 
ate  them  all  up. 


«*2f< 


.♦ . 


* 


VIII.  THE  ANIMAL  PARTY 


M 


ABEL,"  said  Grandma  one  morn- 
ing, "  do  you  know  what  to- 
morrow will  be  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Mabel,  who  did  not  understand 
the  question.     "  What  will  it  be  ?  " 

"  Why,"  said  Grandma,  "  your  birthday." 

"No!"  said  Mabel.  "How  old  shall  I 
be  to-morrow,  Grandma  ?  " 

"What?  Don't  you  remember?  Why, 
to-morrow  you  '11  be  six  years  old." 

"Really?"  cried  Mabel.  "Dear  me! 
Why,  Grandma,  I  thought  that  I  should 
feel  so  different  when  I  grew  up ;  but  I  don't. 
I  feel  just  the  same  as  I  did  when  I  was 
only  a  little  girl." 

Grandma  smiled. 

"That  isn't  strange,  Mabel,"  she  said. 
"  Do  you  know,  I  am  more  than  sixty  years 
old,  and  I  think  I  feel  just  the  same  as 


n6       THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

when  /  was  only  a  little  girl.  But  we  must 
do  something  for  your  birthday,  because  you 
have  been  so  good  and  thoughtful  all  the 
year.     What  would  you  like  best  ?  " 

"  Oh,  let  me  see.  Why,  I  should  like 
best  of  all  to  have  a  party.  You  know  I  Ve 
never  had  a  party ;  and  now  that  I  'm  real 
old  I  think  I  ought  to  have  one.  Let  me 
have  a  birthday  party,  will  you,  Grandma  ?  " 

"  A  birthday  party  ? "  said  Grandma. 
"Well,  I  should  be  very  glad  to  let  you 
have  one,  only  you  don't  know  enough 
children  about  here ;  and  there  is  n't  time  to 
send  out  invitations  to  your  cousins,  because 
they  live  so  far  away.  You  see  there  are  no 
children  of  your  own  age  near  by  except 
Walter,  and  the  Farmer's  little  daughter, 
and  Jack  who  lives  over  the  hill.  That 
would  n't  be  enough.  No,  I  'm  afraid  you  '11 
have  to  think  of  something  else." 

Mabel  went  away  and  sat  in  the  window 
for  a  while,  thinking.  Pretty  soon  she  came 
running  back  again. 

"  Oh,  Grandma !  "  she  cried.  "  I  've  got  a 
perfectly  lovely  idea.  I  can  have  the  party 
after  all." 


THE   ANIMAL    PARTY  117 

"  Why,  how  so,  Mabel  ?  "  asked  Grandma. 
"  What  kind  of  a  party  can  you  have  ?  " 

"  An  animal  party !  "  cried  Mabel,  her  eyes 
sparkling.     "  It  will  be  such  fun  !  " 

"  A  what  ?  "  asked  Grandma. 

"  An  animal  party.  I  '11  ask  all  the  ani- 
mals I  know,  and  get  them  all  together  in 
the  grove  in  front  of  the  house,  and  give 
them  a  nice  dinner,  just  as  though  they  were 
children.     Won't  that  be  splendid  !  " 

Grandma  laughed. 

"  Well,  Mabel,"  she  said,  after  a  moment, 
"you  are  really  a  very  original  little  girl. 
Now  what  animals  would  you  ask  ?  " 

"  Oh,  let  me  see.  There  are  our  own 
animals,  first  of  all.  There 's  Rex,  and 
Towser,  and  the  Goat  (if  he  will  be  very 
good),  and  the  Grey  Rat  under  the  pump. 
They  can  all  come  and  help  receive  the 
other  animals  with  me.  Then  I  '11  ask  the 
Frogs  from  the  bridge,  and  the  Mooly 
Cow,  and  the  Kitty-Cat,  and  the  Little  Pig. 
Won't  it  be  fun  getting  them  all  together ! " 

"  Yes,  it  will  be  very  droll,"  said  Grandma, 
who  was  much  amused  at  the  idea.  Then 
Mabel  thought  a  little  and  hesitated. 


n8     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

"  Grandma,"  she  said. 

"  Well,  Mabel  ?  " 

M  There 's  one  more  animal  that  I  'd  like 
to  ask,  only  —  only  —  I  don't  quite  know 
what  you  '11  think  about  it  when  I  tell  you." 

"Why,  what  animal  is  that,  Mabel?  I 
think  you  Ve  mentioned  all  the  animals 
that  you  know.  You  surely  aren't  going 
to  ask  the  Cross  Dog." 

11  No,"  said  Mabel  shaking  her  head ;  "  it 
is  n't  the  Cross  Dog." 

"  Then  what  animal  is  it?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Mabel,  slowly,  "  it 's  —  it 's 
a  wolf." 

"  Wha-a-t  ?  "  gasped  Grandma,  her  eyes 
opening  very  wide.  "  A  wolf  ?  What  on 
earth  do  you  mean,  Mabel !  Why,  a  wolf 
eats  little  girls  !  A  wolf  is  a  terrible  wild 
beast ! " 

"  Oh,  no,  Grandma,"  said  Mabel.  "  This 
is  a  good  wolf,  and  he  would  n't  hurt  any- 
body. I  've  known  him  some  time,  only  I 
did  n't  want  to  say  anything  to  you  about 
him,  because  I  knew  that  you  'd  be  afraid. 
But  please  let  me  ask  him,  because  he  's 
one  of  my  best  friends." 


THE   ANIMAL   PARTY  119 

Grandma  said  nothing  for  a  long  time, 
but  looked  at  Mabel  very  intently.  Finally 
she  said  :  — 

"  Mabel,  it  seems  to  me  that  you  are  a 
very  strange  little  girl,  and  that  things  hap- 
pen to  you  in  very  curious  ways.  I  have 
thought  so  for  a  good  while,  only  I  did  n't 
know  how  to  explain  it,  and  I  don't  know 
now.  I  remember  how  you  tamed  Rex ; 
and  I  believe  that  you  can  do  things  that 
no  one  else  can  do.  If  you  ask  the  wolf,  I 
feel  that  you  will  be  safe  where  any  other 
little  girl  would  be  in  great  danger ;  and  so 
I  shall  not  forbid  your  doing  it.  But  I  shall 
stay  in  the  house  myself,  for  I  am  afraid  of 
wolves,  and  Walter  must  stay  in,  too.  I 
will  look  out  of  the  window  and  watch 
everything  that  goes  on.  Some  day,  per- 
haps, I  may  understand  it  all ;  but  I  certainly 
don't  now." 

Then  Grandma  took  her  work-basket  and 
went  upstairs  to  her  room.  Mabel  clapped 
her  hands,  and  ran  down  to  the  barn  where 
Rex  was  standing,  all  saddled  and  ready  for 
her  morning  ride.  Mabel  told  him  about 
the  party,  and  that  she  was  going  to  invite 

9 


120     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

the  other  animals.  So  when  she  had  climbed 
up  on  his  back,  they  went  down  the  road, 
first  of  all  to  see  the  Frogs  at  the  bridge. 
Mabel  invited  all  of  them  ;  but  after  the 
Frogs  had  talked  it  all  over,  they  thought 
that  the  five  baby  frogs  were  too  small  to 
go  to  parties  yet ;  and  so,  as  they  could  not 
be  left  alone,  the  Mamma  Frog  would  have 
to  stay  with  them.  So  the  Papa  Frog  said 
that  he  would  be  the  one  to  come  to  the 
party.  Next,  Mabel  asked  the  Mooly  Cow 
and  the  Kitty-Cat,  and  finally  the  Little 
Pig.  They  all  promised  to  come.  Then 
Mabel  rode  into  the  woods,  and  stopped 
in  the  darkest  part  and  whistled  the  call. 
Pretty  soon  she  heard  an  answer,  and  the 
Good  Wolf  appeared  among  the  bushes. 

"  Wolf,"  said  Mabel,  "  I  want  you  to  come 
to  my  birthday  party  to-morrow  afternoon. 
I  'm  going  to  have  a  Goat,  a  Pig,  a  Mooly 
Cow,  a  Kitty-Cat,  a  Rat,  and  a  Frog." 

, "  Ha  !  "  said  the  Wolf,  licking  his  chops. 
"  That  '11  be  good  eating.     Yes,  I  '11  come." 

"  No,  no  !  "  cried  Mabel,  "  I  did  n't  mean 
that !  You  must  n't  eat  them,  because 
they  're  my  company." 


THE   ANIMAL    PARTY  121 

"  Oh  !  "  said  the  Wolf,  looking  rather  dis- 
appointed.    "  I  did  n't  know." 

14  Yes,"  said  Mabel,  "  they  're  my  com- 
pany. You  '11  have  lots  of  meat  to  eat ;  but 
you  must  promise  to  be  very,  very  good, 
and  look  as  pleasant  as  pie,  and  not  growl 
once.     Will  you  ?  " 

"  All  right,"  said  the  Wolf. 

"  The  other  animals  are  coming  at  about 
half-past  two,"  said  Mabel ;  "  but  I  want 
you  to  come  at  three  o'clock." 

"  What  does  that  mean  ?  "  growled  the 
Wolf.     "  What 's  three  o'clock  ?  " 

"  Oh,  Wolf !  "  cried  Mabel.  "  Don't  you 
know  how  to  tell  time  yet  ?  You  ought  to 
be  ashamed  of  yourself,  —  and  such  a  big 
Wolf,  too  !  Well,  I  '11  tell  you  in  another 
way.  When  you  hear  the  big  bell  in  the 
church  steeple  across  the  fields  go  boom ! 
boom !  boom !  to-morrow,  then  you  come  as 
quick  as  you  can  to  the  party.  It 's  in  the 
grove  in  front  of  my  house.  Now  don't 
forget,  will  you,  Wolf  ?  " 

"  No,  I  won't  forget,"  said  the  Good  Wolf ; 
and  Mabel  rode  home  at  a  gallop. 

"  They  're   all   coming,    Grandma  !  "  said 


122     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

Mabel,  gaily,  as  she  clattered  into  the  yard. 
"  Every  one  of  them." 

"  And  is  the  —  the  Wolf  coming  ?  "  asked 
Grandma,  in  an  anxious  voice. 

"Oh,  yes;  he'll  be  here."  And  Mabel 
went  on  to  the  barn.  Grandma  wondered 
more  than  ever. 

The  next  day  at  two  o'clock,  Mabel  had 
made  all  her  plans  for  the  party,  and  was 
being  dressed  in  her  best  party  dress.  She 
had  her  hair  curled  in  long  ringlets  all  about 
her  merry  little  face,  and  Grandma  fastened 
a  rose-bud  at  the  side  of  her  head.  She 
wore  a  light-blue  silk  with  knots  of  ribbon, 
neat  little  shoes  with  tiny  silver  buckles, 
and  a  big  lace  collar  fastened  by  a  dainty 
pearl  pin.  Around  her  neck  was  a  string  of 
pearl  beads  that  Uncle  Robert  had  brought 
her  from  Rome.  She  was  as  pretty  as  any 
picture  when  she  went  out  into  the  grove, 
after  looking  at  the  nice  things  that  she  had 
got  together  for  the  animals  to  eat.  She 
stood  in  the  centre  of  the  grove,  in  the  shade 
of  a  big  elm  tree,  all  ready  for  her  company 
to  come.  First  of  all  came  Rex,  trotting 
down  from    the  stable.     John   had  curried 


THE   ANIMAL   PARTY  123 

and  brushed  him  till  he  was  as  glossy  as 
satin. 

"  Ah,  good  afternoon,  Rex,"  said  Mabel, 
cordially.  "  I  'm  so  glad  you  Ve  come  early, 
for  I  want  you  to  receive  with  me.  Stand 
right  here  beside  me." 

Rex  neighed  politely,  and  did  as  she  asked. 
Scarcely  had  he  taken  his  place,  when  Towser 
trotted  in,  with  his  tail  in  the  air.  Mabel 
shook  his  paw,  and  put  him  at  her  left. 
Next  came  the  Goat,  and  soon  after  the 
Grey  Rat.  The  Rat  looked  a  little  uneasy 
at  being  so  far  from  its  home  under  the 
pump,  and  seemed  a  little  afraid  of  Towser ; 
but  Mabel  was  so  friendly  as  to  put  it  quite 
at  its  ease  in  a  minute. 

Then  a  sound  of  heavy  steps  was  heard 
in  the  road,  and  presently  the  Mooly  Cow 
walked  in,  swishing  off  flies  with  her  tail. 

She  knew  Rex  and  Towser,  and,  after 
being  introduced  to  the  other  animals,  went 
up  and  stood  by  Rex,  who  was  about  her 
own  size.  Next  the  Kitty-Cat  pattered  in. 
She  had  washed  her  face  and  paws  till  they 
were  beautifully  clean,  and  she  wore  a  pink 
ribbon  around  her  neck.     She  looked  rather 


i24     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

hard  at  the  Rat  for  a  moment,  but  then 
went  over  by  Towser,  and  sat  down  by  his 
side.  Not  long  after,  they  heard  a  sharp 
trot,  and  the  Little  Pig  ambled  in.  He  was 
as  clean  as  could  be,  and  his  tail  was  curled 
up  tight  over  his  back,  in  his  best  party 
style.  He  went  up  to  the  Goat,  and  began 
to  talk  to  him  about  the  weather.  Pres- 
ently a  sort  of  hippety-hop  was  heard,  and 
the  green  Frog  appeared,  his  back  shining 
in  the  sun.  Mabel  shook  his  damp  claw, 
and  talked  with  him  a  moment,  and  then 
gave  him  a  place  next  to  the  Grey  Rat.  All 
the  animals  were  now  paired  off,  and  were 
talking  in  a  lively  way,  all  of  them  having  a 
splendid  time. 

It  was  nearly  three  o'clock.  Mabel  looked 
down  the  road,  and  then  raised  her  little 
hand  to  show  the  animals  that  she  had 
something  to  say  to  them.  They  all  stopped 
talking  to  listen. 

"  Animals,"  she  said,  "  I  think  I  ought  to 
tell  you  that  there  is  one  other  animal  com- 
ing who  will  be  here  in  a  minute.  I  want 
to  tell  you  about  him  now,  so  that  you  '11 
not  be  a  bit  afraid  when  you  see  him.     He 


THE   ANIMAL    PARTY  125 

is  an  old  friend  of  mine,  and  you  may  be 
sure  that  he  will  be  very,  very  good,  so  you 
need  n't  worry  about  him." 

The  animals  all  pricked  up  their  ears,  and 
looked  interested. 

"  Yes,"  added  Mabel,  "  he  will  be  here  in 
a  minute,  and  I  will  tell  you  who  he  is. 
He  is  a  — Wolf." 

The  animals  gave  a  big  jump,  and  looked 
greatly  frightened,  —  all  except  Rex  and 
Towser. 

"  Now,  mind,"  said  Mabel ;  "  he  is  a  Good 
Wolf,  and  won't  hurt  any  of  you.  I  think 
I  hear  him  coming  now." 

Sure  enough,  the  sound  of  footsteps  was 
heard  on  the  road.  All  the  animals  except 
Rex  and  Towser  were  very  nervous. 

11  Here  he  is,"  cried  Mabel,  as  she  went 
forward  to  the  opening  in  the  grove ;  and 
just  at  that  moment  the  great  Wolf  came 
moving  through  the  grass  in  plain  sight. 
The  animals  stared  at  him  as  hard  as  they 
could.  Most  of  them  had  never  seen  a  wolf 
before,  and  their  hearts  beat  very  fast.  He 
seemed  enormous,  as  he  walked  into  the 
grove.     His  great  thick  legs,  his  big  head 


i26     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

and  jaws,  his  sharp  claws,  his  big  eyes,  all 
looked  fearful  to  them  at  first. 

"  Good  afternoon,  Wolf,"  said  Mabel. 
u  You  are  just  in  time,  and  we  are  all  very 
glad  to  see  you.  You  know  Rex  and 
Towser ;  let  me  introduce  you  to  the  other 
animals.  This  is  the  Grey  Rat ;  this  is  the 
Frog ;  here  is  the  Mooly  Cow,  and  the  Kitty- 
Cat  ;  and  this  is  the  Little  Pig.  I  think  you 
have  met  the  Goat  before." 

The  Goat  ducked  his  head,  and  looked 
embarrassed.  He  would  have  liked  to  run 
away ;  but  the  Wolf  looked  so  pleasant  that 
he  felt  better  in  a  minute.  All  the  animals 
noted  how  politely  the  Wolf  smiled  and 
bowed  when  he  was  introduced  to  them. 

"  Now,"  said  Mabel,  "  as  you  're  all  here, 
I  will  have  refreshments  served.  Towser, 
will  you  please  go  over  to  the  kitchen-steps 
and  bring  the  basket  to  me  in  your  mouth  ?  " 

In  a  few  minutes  Towser  was  back  again, 
carrying  the  basket  which  Mabel  had  very 
carefully  got  ready  that  morning.  She  took 
it  from  him,  and  opened  the  cover.  The 
animals  all  looked  interested.  First,  she 
took  out  something  for  the  Wolf ;  because 


THE   ANIMAL   PARTY  127 

she  thought  it  just  as  well  to  give  him 
something  to  do.  So  she  handed  him  a 
great  roast-beef  bone,  with  about  two  pounds 
of  beef  on  it,  almost  raw.  He  was  so  glad 
to  get  it  that  he  gave  a  big  growl  of  joy. 
The  animals  all  jumped.  Then  she  took 
out  some  toasted  cheese  for  the  Grey  Rat, 
a  package  of  dried  flies  for  the  Frog,  and 
some  chop-bones  for  Towser.  The  Goat 
had  three  apples  in  a  paper-bag.  He  ate 
the  bag  off  very  carefully  first,  and  then 
began  on  the  apples.  Then  she  gave  the 
Cow  four  large  turnips,  and  brought  out  a 
bag  of  oats  for  Rex.  At  the  bottom  of  the 
basket  was  a  large  square  of  pig-cake,  that 
she  had  cooked  herself  for  the  Little  Pig.  It 
was  made  of  bran  and  potato-peelings,  mixed 
up  together,  and  was  stuck  full  of  horse- 
chestnuts,  which  pigs  like  as  much  as  chil- 
dren do  plums  in  a  pudding. 

When  the  animals  had  had  their  food 
given  them,  they  all  fell  to  eating  as  fast  as 
they  could.  They  munched  and  chewed 
and  nibbled,  stopping  now  and  then  to  chat; 
and  Mabel  was  delighted  to  see  that  they 
were  having  a  splendid  time,  all  except  the 


128     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

Frog.  He  seemed  to  be  uneasy.  He  hitched 
his  shoulders  up,  and  rolled  his  eyes,  and 
finally  he  stopped  eating  altogether,  though 
he  had  only  half  finished  his  dried  flies. 

Mabel  went  up  to  him,  to  see  what  was 
the  matter.  Then  she  noticed  that  his  skin 
had  a  curious  cracked  look,  and  that  its 
green  colour  had  grown  very  dim. 

"What's  the  matter,  Frog?"  she  asked 
softly  so  that  no  one  could  hear. 

The  Frog  wriggled  uneasily,  and  shifted 
about  on  his  fore-paws,  and  then  croaked 
out,  — 

"  No  water !  " 

Mabel  understood  in  a  minute.  She 
knew  that  he  was  not  used  to  being  out  of 
the  water  for  so  long  a  time,  and  she  saw 
that  the  skin  was  getting  parched  and  dry 
on  his  back.  She  looked  around.  All 
the  animals  were  busy  eating  and  talking. 

"  Come,"  she  said,  "  I  '11  give  you  some 
water." 

Then  she  took  him  quickly  up  in  her 
hands,  and  slipped  away  with  him  to  the 
house.  She  carried  him  upstairs  very  care- 
fully into  the  bath-room,  where  there  was  a 


THE   ANIMAL    PARTY  129 

fine  big  tub  lined  with  porcelain.  The  Frog 
looked  into  it  eagerly,  and  then  groaned. 

"  No  water !  "  croaked  he. 

"  Oh,  but  there  will  be  water,"  said  Mabel. 
"  I  can  have  the  tub  full  of  it  in  a  minute." 

The  Frog  looked  doubtful.  He  did  not 
see  how  she  could  fill  the  tub  with  water 
when  there  was  no  water  there.  He 
croaked    sorrowfully. 

"  Now  see,"  said  Mabel,  putting  one  hand 
on  the  faucet. 

The  Frog  looked ;  she  turned  the  handle, 
and,  swish  !  a  great  stream  of  cold  water  be- 
gan pouring  into  the  bath-tub.  The  Frog 
was  so  surprised  that  he  nearly  fell  out  of 
her  hand. 

"Do  you  see  that?"  said  Mabel,  laugh- 
ing.    The  Frog  thought  that  it  was  magic. 

Pretty  soon  the  tub  was  half  full. 

"Jump!"  said  Mabel. 

The  Frog  gathered  up  his  hind-legs  and 
gave  a  jump  —  plunk!  splash!  down  into 
the  bath-tub.  Oh,  how  good  the  cool  water 
felt  to  him !  He  swam  about,  sometimes 
sinking  to  the  bottom,  and  sometimes  float- 
ing on  the  top,  as  happy  as  if  he  were  in 


130     THE   ADVENTURES   OF    MABEL 

his  own  brook.  When  he  had  had  a  good 
swim,  Mabel  lifted  him  out,  his  skin  all 
glistening  and  shiny  with  the  water  that 
dripped  from  his  back,  and  carried  him 
carefully  in  a  soap-dish  back  to  the  grove. 
Then  he  croaked  in  a  contented  sort  of  way, 
and  nestled  down  in  the  grass  to  eat  the  rest 
of  his  dried  flies  with  a  splendid  appetite. 

The  animals  were  now  as  much  at  home 
as  could  be.  They  walked  about  chatting 
together,  and  they  were  no  longer  afraid  of 
the  Good  Wolf.  They  were  even  glad  that 
he  had  come ;  because  now  they  could  tell 
all  their  friends  how  they  had  seen  a  real, 
live  wolf,  and  how  they  had  heard  him  talk. 
The  Little  Pig  went  up  close  to  the  Wolf, 
and  walked  all  around  him,  looking  at  him 
very  carefully ;  and  the  Grey  Rat  even  went 
up  behind  him,  and  touched  his  hind-paw, 
so  as  to  be  able  to  say  that  it  had  actually 
felt  of  a  Wolf. 

About  five  o'clock  the  Mooly  Cow  noticed 
that  the  sun  was  going  down,  and  knew  that 
it  was  time  for  her  to  go  home  and  be 
milked.  So  she  went  up  to  Mabel,  and 
told   her  how  she  had  enjoyed   the  party, 


THE   ANIMAL    PARTY 


131 


and  said  good-bye.  Next  the  Little  Pig 
left,  then  the  Frog,  then  the  Kitty-Cat,  and 
last  the  Wolf.  Mabel's  own  animals  then 
went  to  the  back-yard,  —  Rex  to  his  stable, 
Towser  to  his  dog-house,  the  Goat  to  the 
orchard,  and  the  Grey  Rat  to  the  pump. 
They  had  all  had  a  splendid  time,  and  so 
had  Mabel.  She  picked  up  the  basket,  and 
went  back  to  the  house  with  a  sigh  of 
satisfaction. 

"  I  think  I  Ve  had  a  lovely  party,"  she 
said  to  Grandma,  as  she  went  in  at  the 
door. 

"Yes,  I  really  think  you  have,"  said 
Grandma,  who  had  watched  the  whole  affair 
rather  anxiously  from  an  upstairs  window. 


^>  Sen     1  < 


& 


^*^/*i+s 


IX.  THE  TRICKS  OF  THE  BAD  WOLF 

DOWN  in  the  woods  where  the  Good 
Wolf  lived  there  lived  also  a  Bad 
Wolf.  He  was  a  long,  lank,  hun- 
gry-looking animal,  with  mangy  fur,  and 
great  jagged  yellow  teeth.  He  seldom  came 
out  in  the  day-time,  but  slept  from  sunrise 
till  sunset  in  a  dark  den  where  he  had  one 
small  cub.  When  it  grew  dark,  the  Bad 
Wolf  would  come  slinking  out  of  the  den, 
and  go  prowling  around  in  the  night  looking 
for  little  rabbits  that  were  asleep  in  their 
burrows.  When  he  found  them,  he  would 
break  their  necks  and  carry  them  back  to 
his  den  to  eat.  He  did  not  like  the  Good 
Wolf  and  the  Good  Wolf  did  not  like  him ; 
though  they  were  fairly  polite  to  each  other 
when  they  met. 


TRICKS    OF   THE    BAD   WOLF      133 

The  day  after  Mabel's  animal  party,  just 
at  sunset,  the  Good  Wolf  was  walking  past 
the  Bad  Wolfs  den,  when  the  Bad  Wolf 
looked  out  and  saw  him  going  by. 

" Hullo f"  growled  the  Bad  Wolf.  "I 
heard  a  funny  thing  about  you  last  night. 
The  Fox  told  me  that  he  saw  you  out  in 
the  road  near  a  house  in  the  daytime." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Good  Wolf.  "That  's  so. 
I  went  into  the  yard  of  the  house,  too." 

11  Wha-a-t  ?  "  cried  the  Bad  Wolf.  "  Into 
the  yard  !     Did  any  one  see  you  ?  " 

"  Why,  yes,"  said  the  Good  Wolf,  care- 
lessly. "  The  little  girl  who  lives  there  saw 
me,  and  came  out  where  I  was." 

"  Really  ?  "  said  the  Bad  Wolf,  who  was 
greatly  interested.  "  And  did  you  eat  her 
up?  Aha,  I  wish  I  could  get  a  little  girl 
to  eat!  My  brother  once  caught  a  little 
girl  and  ate  her ;  and  he  said  that  she  was 
the  tenderest  bit  of  food  that  he  ever  had  in 
his  life !  Maybe  you  Ve  got  a  little  piece 
of  her  left,  hey?  If  you  have,  you  might 
give  me  just  a  taste,  you  know." 

"  No,"  said  the  Good  Wolf,  shortly.     "  I 

didn't  eat  her." 

10 


i34     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

"  No  ?  Why  not  ?  What  a  stupid 
thing !  " 

"  Well,"  said  the  Good  Wolf,  "  you  see, 
she  knows  the  Call." 

"  Oh  !  "  said  the  Bad  Wolf.  "  I  wonder 
how  she  learned  it." 

"  I  don't  know,"  answered  the  Good  Wolf. 
"  But  anyhow,  I  would  n't  touch  her,  for 
she  's  a  dear  little  thing." 

"  Pooh  !  "  sneered  the  Bad  Wolf.  "  You  re 
no  kind  of  a  Wolf  to  talk  like  that.  Was 
there  anything  else  to  eat  there  ? " 

"Yes,"  said  the  Good  Wolf.  "There 
were  lots  of  animals,  —  a  horse,  a  cow,  a 
dog,  a  pig,  and  a  goat,  besides  some  small 
animals." 

"  Well,  of  course  you  killed  them"  cried 
the  Bad  Wolf.  "  What  a  lot  of  meat  you 
must  have  now !  " 

"No,"  said  the  Good  Wolf,  "I  didn't 
touch  one  of  them.  You  see  the  Little 
Girl  made  me  promise  not  to." 

"  Ugh  !  "  snarled  the  Bad  Wolf.  "  You  're 
a  regular  fool-wolf.  The  idea  of  not  killing 
them,  just  because  a  little  girl  asked  you  not 
to.     Ugh ! " 


TRICKS   OF  THE   BAD   WOLF      135 

11  Don't  call  me  any  names,"  said  the  Good 
Wolf;  and  he  bristled  up  the  hair  on  his 
neck  and  showed  his  long  white  teeth.  The 
Bad  Wolf  felt  afraid. 

"  Oh,  I  11  take  it  back,"  he  said  hastily. 
"  I  did  n't  mean  anything.  But  where  do 
these  animals  live  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  where  most  of  them  live," 
said  the  Good  Wolf.  "  But  the  horse,  the 
dog,  and  the  goat  stay  on  the  place  where 
the  Little  Girl  lives.  Not  that  it 's  any  of 
your  business,"  he  added,  roughly. 

"  Ho !  "  said  the  Bad  Wolf,  sulkily.  "  You 
need  n't  be  so  cross  about  it." 

But  the  Good  Wolf  did  n't  want  to  listen 
to  the  Bad  Wolf  any  longer,  so  he  turned 
his  back  on  him  and  trotted  off  through  the 
underbrush.  The  Bad  Wolf  watched  him 
till  he  was  lost  to  sight  in  the  gathering 
darkness. 

"  Hateful  beast !  "  snarled  he.  "  I'd  like 
to  stick  my  teeth  in  his  throat ! " 

Then  he  went  back  into  his  den  and  lay 
down  on  his  bed  of  dried  leaves  to  wait  till 
it  should  be  really  dark.  As  he  lay  there,  he 
thought  over  all  that  he  had  learned  from 


136     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

the  Good  Wolf.  He  remembered  how  the 
Good  Wolf  had  said  that  the  large  animals 
lived  in  the  yard  at  Mabel's ;  and  he  won- 
dered whether  he  might  not  be  able  to  creep 
in  there  and  get  one  of  them.  He  did  not 
think  much  about  killing  a  horse,  because  he 
was  afraid  of  being  kicked  by  his  hoofs,  nor 
did  he  like  dog-meat ;  but  he  thought  of  the 
Goat,  and  the  more  he  thought  the  more 
he  felt  that  a  goat  would  be  very  good  eat- 
ing for  himself  and  his  cub.  A  whole 
goat  would  last  them  for  at  least  a  week. 
Finally,  he  could  n't  stand  it  any  longer. 

"  I  '11  do  it,"  he  said  to  himself. 

He  slipped  out  of  the  den  in  the  darkness, 
and  prowled  around  till  he  found  the  Fox. 
He  asked  the  Fox  where  the  house  was  at 
which  the  Good  Wolf  had  been  the  day  be- 
fore, and  the  Fox  told  him.  Then  the  Bad 
Wolf  went  out  into  the  bushes  and  sharp- 
ened up  his  teeth  on  a  long  flint  stone ;  and 
about  midnight  he  stole  out  of  the  woods 
into  the  road,  and  wrent  stealthily  along  it, 
over  the  bridge  where  the  Frogs  lived,  past 
the  Cross  Dog's  house,  and  finally  came  to 
Mabel's   front   gate.     He  raised  the  latch 


TRICKS   OF   THE   BAD   WOLF      137 

with  his  nose,  and  went  into  the  yard,  glid- 
ing around  to  the  back  of  the  house. 

The  moon  was  not  shining ;  but  the  sky 
was  full  of  stars  so  that  the  night  was  not 
so  very  dark.  As  the  Bad  Wolf  peered 
about,  he  saw  the  Goat  lying  fast  asleep 
near  the  barn.  The  Wolf  slid  along  in  the 
grass,  and  got  ready  to  make  a  leap  at  the 
Goat  and  catch  him  by  the  throat  so  as  to 
choke  him  and  keep  him  from  making  a 
noise.  He  glared  at  the  poor  sleeping  Goat 
so  hard  that  he  did  n't  notice  Towser,  who 
lay  in  his  dog-house  not  far  away,  with  his 
head  toward  the  door. 

Towser  was  not  asleep,  for  the  mosquitoes 
had  been  troubling  him  a  good  deal,  and  his 
eyes  were  still  open.  All  of  a  sudden  he 
saw  a  great  black  body  gliding  across  the 
yard  toward  the  place  where  the  Goat  lay 
sleeping.  In  a  minute  he  was  wide  awake ; 
and  three  sniffs  of  his  nose  told  him  that  the 
creature  stealing  into  the  yard  was  a  wolf. 
Towser  was  a  large  dog,  but  he  was  not  so 
large  as  a  wolf,  nor  so  strong ;  yet  he  was 
very  brave.  He  did  not  stop  to  think 
whether  or  not  he  could  beat  a  wolf.     He 


138     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

was  ready  to  fight  at  any  time;  and  now  he 
was  glad  to  think  that  he  had  not  been 
asleep.  He  rose  softly  in  his  dog-house 
and  stood  all  ready  to  spring,  watching  the 
movements  of  the  Bad  Wolf,  and  opening 
his  mouth  to  bite  him.  The  Bad  Wolf  was 
now  only  about  six  feet  from  the  Goat; 
in  a  minute  more  he  would  have  rushed 
upon  him ;  when  Towser  gave  a  fearful  yell 
and  leaped  like  a  streak  of  lightning  right 
on  top  of  the  Wolf,  and  buried  his  teeth  in 
the  Wolfs  back. 

Now  wicked  wolves  like  wicked  men 
are  apt  to  be  cowards,  and  Towser's  rush 
was  so  sudden  that  the  Bad  Wolf  was 
frightened  half  to  death.  He  did  n't  know 
whether  it  was  a  dog  or  a  lion;  and  he 
didn't  wait  to  see,  but  gave  one  awful 
howl  and  turned  and  ran  out  of  the  yard 
as  hard  as  he  could  go.  As  he  went  out  of 
the  gate  he  scraped  Towser  off  his  back, 
and  then  ran  down  the  road  toward  the 
woods,  howling  at  the  top  of  his  voice. 

The  Farmer  happened  to  be  sitting  up 
late  that  night  mending  a  harness ;  and  he 
heard   the   howls   of   the    Bad   Wolf  long 


TRICKS    OF   THE   BAD   WOLF      139 

before  he  reached  the  house.  A  moment 
later,  looking  out  of  the  window,  the  Farmer 
saw  a  great  black  animal  running  down  the 
road. 

"  Ha !  "  said  the  Farmer.  "  I  '11  get  my 
gun  and  just  pepper  him ! " 

So  he  snatched  his  shot-gun  down  from 
the  wall  and  poked  it  out  of  the  window. 
Bang!  went  the  shot-gun  just  as  the  Wolf 
was  passing  the  house;  and  it  filled  his 
skin  full  of  shot.  It  was  bird-shot  and  not 
very  large,  so  that  it  did  not  kill  him  ;  but  it 
stung  him  fearfully,  and  he  gave  a  yell  ten 
times  as  loud  as  before,  and  plunged  off 
into  the  fields.  When  he  reached  the 
woods,  he  dashed  into  his  den,  and  rolled 
on  the  leaves  in  pain,  rubbing  his  sides 
with  his  paws,  and  grunting  and  snarling. 

"  What's  the  matter?"  cried  his  little 
wolf-cub,  waking  up  and  running  over  to 
him. 

"  Get  along  with  you  !  "  snarled  the  Bad 
Wolf,  cuffing  him  over  the  head,  and  driv- 
ing him  back  to  his  corner  of  the  den. 

All  the  next  day  he  lay  on  his  leaves  and 
grunted  and  moaned.     The  Good  Wolf,  who 


140     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

had  heard  all  about  it  from  the  Fox,  came 
in,  pretending  that  he  had  heard  nothing. 

"  Good-morning,"  said  he.  "  Why,  what 's 
the  matter  ?     You  don't  look  well." 

"  No,"  said  the  Bad  Wolf,  who  did  not 
want  any  one  to  know  what  had  happened. 
"I  —  I  —  I  —  had  a  fall  last  night  off  a 
high  fence,  and  bruised  my  back." 

11  Curious  thing,"  said  the  Good  Wolf. 
"Why,  your  back  looks  as  though  it  was 
full  of  little  holes  ! " 

"  Ugh,"  grunted  the  Bad  Wolf.  "  Yes  — 
I  fell  down  into  a  lot  of  briar-bushes,  and 
the  thorns  stuck  into  me." 

"Oh!"  said  the  Good  Wolf,  smiling 
"  Then  if  I  were  you,  I  should  n't  walk  on 
fences.     Wolves  generally  don't,  you  know." 

The  Bad  Wolf  lay  there  all  day  in  a  very 
unhappy  state  of  mind,  slowly  picking  out 
the  shot  from  his  skin  with  his  teeth,  and 
rubbing  his  wounds  with  rattlesnake-oil, 
which  is  the  great  medicine  for  wolves. 
He  thought  a  good  deal  about  what  had 
happened,  and  he  felt  a  dreadful  hate  for 
the  Farmer. 

"  I    was  n't     doing     anything    to    hint" 


TRICKS   OF   THE    BAD   WOLF      141 

thought  the  Bad  Wolf.  "What  did  he 
want  to  shoot  at  me  for?  I'll  get  even 
with   him  some  day." 

So  he  thought  and  thought  and  thought, 
until  he  was  simply  wild  with  hate;  and 
he  said  to  himself  that  as  soon  as  he  was 
well  he  would  do  something  to  punish  the 
Farmer. 

The  next  night  the  shot-holes  were  be- 
ginning to  heal  up,  so  he  crept  out  of  his 
den  once  more  and  caught  a  rabbit.  After 
he  had  eaten  it,  he  went  through  the  fields 
near  the  Farmer's  house,  and  prowled  around 
there  in  the  dark  a  long  while.  He  did  this 
every  night  for  a  week,  and  in  that  time  he 
found  out  some  things  that  interested  him 
very  much.  One  was  that  the  Farmer  had 
a  little  daughter ;  the  other  was  that,  in  the 
warm  summer  weather,  many  of  the  win- 
dows of  the  house  were  left  open  all  night 
long.  The  Bad  Wolf  thought  over  those 
things  a  great  deal.  If  he  could  only  get  into 
the  house  some  night  through  the  windows, 
he  could  carry  off  the  little  girl  to  his  den 
and  eat  her.  He  had  always  wanted  to  eat 
a  little  girl ;  and  besides,  to  do  this  would 


142     THE    ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

punish  the  Farmer  worse  than  anything 
that  he  could  do.  But  he  was  too  much  of 
a  coward  to  try  such  a  thing  all  alone.  He 
was  dreadfully  afraid  of  the  shot-gun ;  and 
so  he  said  to  himself  that  he  would  get 
some  other  animal  to  fight  the  Farmer, 
while  he  himself  caught  the  little  girl.  He 
was  very  mean  in  this,  for  he  rather  hoped 
that  the  Farmer  would  kill  the  other  animal 
while  the  little  girl  was  being  carried  off. 

"  If  he  does,"  said  the  Bad  Wolf  to  him- 
self, "  then  I  can  have  the  whole  of  the  little 
girl  for  my  own  eating." 

So  he  went  about,  looking  for  some  one 
to  help  him.  He  knew  that  the  Good  Wolf 
would  not  have  anything  to  do  with  such  a 
plan,  so  he  went  first  to  the  Brown  Bear 
who  lived  among  the  rocks  in  the  middle 
of  the  woods.  But  the  Brown  Bear,  as 
soon  he  heard  of  it,  grew  very  angry  with 
the  Bad  Wolf,  and  struck  him  a  blow  with 
his  big  paw  that  knocked  him  head  over 
heels.  Then  he  tried  the  Wild  Cat  that 
lived  in  a  great  beech-tree  near  the  edge  of 
the  woods ;  but  the  Wild  Cat  did  not  like 
the  Bad  Wolf,  and  told  him  so. 


TRICKS   OF   THE   BAD   WOLF      143 

"  You  are  a  thief  and  a  coward,"  said  the 
Wild  Cat ;  "  and  you  only  want  to  get  me 
into  trouble  so  that  you  may  have  some- 
thing to  eat  for  yourself.  Go  on,  or  I  '11 
claw  your  fur  off ! " 

So  the  Bad  Wolf  had  to  give  up  the  idea 
of  getting  help  from  any  of  the  animals  that 
he  knew.  Yet  he  would  not  give  up  his 
plan ;  and  at  last  he  became  so  set  upon  it, 
that  he  decided  to  do  a  very  desperate  thing. 

"  1 11  go  to  the  Red  Wolves  in  the  Lonely 
Forest !  "  said  he.  Now  the  Red  Wolves 
were  wolves  that  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  wolves  that  were  black.  They  were 
much  bigger  and  fiercer,  and  usually  hunted 
in  packs,  so  that  even  men  with  guns  never 
liked  to  meet  them.  They  lived  in  a  great 
forest  called  the  Lonely  Forest,  about  twenty 
miles  away  from  the  woods  where  the  Bad 
Wolfs  den  was.  The  Lonely  Forest  was  as 
dark  as  night  even  in  the  daytime ;  for  the 
vines  grew  all  over  the  tops  of  the  trees  and 
shut  out  the  light;  and  there  were  great 
marshes  and  black  pools  in  it,  and  gloomy 
caverns  and  huge  dark  dens  where  the  Red 
Wolves  prowled  all  day  and  night.     It  was 


144     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

a  fearful  place ;  and  if  the  Bad  Wolf  had 
not  been  very  wicked  and  very  revengeful 
he  would  never  have  thought  of  going  there 
for  help  against  the  Farmer. 

Nevertheless,  he  did  make  up  his  mind  to 
visit  the  Lonely  Forest ;  so  one  night  after 
midnight  he  set  out  on  his  journey,  and 
reached  the  Lonely  Forest  just  at  daybreak. 
When  he  crept  into  its  gloomy  shadows  and 
saw  how  dark  and  dreadful  it  looked,  he 
shivered  with  fear ;  but  he  had  gone  too  far 
to  stop;  so  he  tried  to  look  brave  as  he 
slunk  along  through  the  thick  fern  and  the 
matted  ivy  that  tangled  his  feet  at  every 
step.  He  had  gone  about  half  a  mile,  and 
was  in  the  very  darkest  and  gloomiest  part, 
when  all  of  a  sudden  he  heard  a  low  growl 
that  made  his  blood  run  cold.  A  moment 
later,  a  great  head  was  thrust  out  of  a 
thicket,  and  two  red  eyeballs  glared  at  him 
like  coals  of  fire.  It  was  an  enormous  wolf 
that  squatted  there  as  a  sort  of  sentinel. 

"  What  do  you  mean,"  said  the  Red  Wolf, 
in  a  terrible  voice,  "by  coming  into  the 
Lonely  Forest,  —  you  a  Black  Wolf,  whom 
we  tear  in  pieces  whenever  we  find  him  ?  " 


TRICKS   OF   THE   BAD   WOLF      145 

The  Bad  Wolfs  voice  trembled  as  he 
answered : 

"  I  come  as  a  friend/'  he  said  ;  "  and  I  wish 
to  do  you  a  favour.  If  you  will  let  me  tell 
you  what  I  want,  it  will  bring  you  meat  for 
many  days." 

"  Ugh  !  "  growled  the  Red  Wolf.  «•  We 
ask  no  favours  of  the  Black  Wolves.  They 
are  weak  and  cowardly.  But  come !  Fol- 
low me." 

The  Red  Wolf  led  the  way  through  the 
Forest,  and  the  Black  Wolf  followed  him. 
He  was  sorry  enough  now,  to  think  that  he 
had  ever  come  to  this  fearful  place.  He 
fancied  that  perhaps  the  Red  Wolf  was 
only  leading  him  to  some  dark  cavern  to  be 
torn  in  pieces  and  eaten.  His  legs  trembled 
so  that  he  could  scarcely  walk ;  but  it  was 
now  too  late  to  turn  back.     He  must  go  on. 

Presently  the  Red  Wolf  turned  into  a 
gloomy  sort  of  glade,  and  came  to  an  open 
place  where  the  ground  was  cleared  of 
bushes  and  was  perfectly  level.  '  Great 
rocks  rose  on  three  sides  of  it,  and  walled 
it  in  like  a  room.     At  the  end  was  a  spring 

of  water,  by  which  lay  three  wolves.     The 


146     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

one  in  the  middle  was  the  biggest  wolf  that 
the  Bad  Wolf  had  ever  seen.  He  was  cov- 
ered with  shaggy,  red  hair,  so  long  that  it 
swept  the  ground,  and  on  the  top  of  his 
head  was  a  thick  tuft  of  fur  almost  as  red 
as  fire.  He  was  a  terrible-looking  creature. 
The  two  wolves  that  sat  on  each  side  of 
him  were  not  so  large ;  but  they  were  strong 
and  fierce  looking.  One  of  them  was 
almost  grey.  The  wolf  with  the  tuft  on  his 
head  was  the  King  of  the  Red  Wolves ;  and 
the  other  two  were  his  messengers. 

When  the  King  saw  the  Bad  Wolf 
coming  with  the  Guide,  he  sat  up  on  his 
haunches. 

"  What  have  you  there  ?  "  he  asked,  in  a 
voice  that  made  the  rocks  ring.  "  A  Black 
Wolf?  Ha!  Why  did  you  not  kill  him, 
and  bring  his  body  here  ?  " 

"  He  asks  to  speak  with  you,"  said  the 
Guide,  bowing  low  and  rubbing  his  nose  on 
the  ground.  "  He  promises  much  meat,  if 
you  will  hear  him." 

"  Speak  on,  Black  Wolf,"  commanded 
the  King ;  "  but  use  few  words.  I  like  not 
the  voice  of  the  Black  Wolves." 


TRICKS    OF   THE    BAD   WOLF      147 

"  Great  King  of  the  Red  Wolves,"  said 
the  Bad  Wolf,  "  I  come  to  offer  you  a  rare 
hunt.  Near  the  woods  where  I  live  stands 
the  house  of  a  man,  a  Farmer.  In  it  live 
the  Farmer  and  his  wife  and  his  little  girl. 
At  night  they  do  not  close  their  windows, 
but  leave  them  open.  Send  one  or  two  of 
your  best  fighters  with  me,  and  I  will  lead 
them  to  this  house.  They  can  enter  in  the 
night,  and  kill  the  Farmer  and  his  wife  and 
his  little  girl.  Good  eating  for  you,  O  King 
of  the  Red  Wolves  ! " 

"  Ha !  "  growled  the  King.  *  Why  do 
you  come  here  to  tell  me  this,  and  why  do 
you  not  keep  this  eating  for  your  own  kind, 
—  you,  a  Black  Wolf  and  no  friend  to  us  ? 
You  mean  some  trick,  some  treachery,  ha?" 

"  No,  King  of  the  Red  Wolves,"  said  the 
Bad  Wolf,  "  I  mean  no  trick.  I  will  speak 
the  truth.  I  hate  the  Farmer,  and  I  wish 
him  eaten ;  but  I  am  not  strong  enough  to 
enter  and  to  fight  with  him.  It  is  you  and 
your  wolves  who  are  strong  and  brave." 

"  Good  !  "  said  the  King.  "  I  understand. 
I  will  give  you  the  two  you  ask ;  but  you 
are   not  to  expect   for  any  portion  of  the 


148     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

meat  yourself.  Yours  shall  be  all  the 
revenge,  and  ours  shall  be  all  the  meat/' 

The  Bad  Wolf  looked  crestfallen  at  this ; 
but  he  thought  to  himself,  "  Aha  !  while  they 
are  fighting,  I  '11  make  sure  of  the  little  girl, 
and  slip  away  with  her." 

But  he  said  aloud  :  — 

"  I  agree.  Send  with  me  two  of  your 
wolves." 

The  King  spoke  to  his  Messengers. 

"  Go  you,"  he  said,  "  with  the  Black  Wolf, 
and  hunt  as  he  shall  direct.  And  do  you 
go,  too,"  he  said,  turning  to  the  Guide. 

"  There  is  no  need  of  three,"  said  the 
Bad  Wolf.  "  Why  do  you  send  him 
also  ?  " 

"To  watch  you  1  "  said  the  King,  in  a 
terrible  voice ;  "  and  if  he  finds  you  playing 
any  treacherous  trick,  he  shall  tear  you  in 
pieces  and  drink  your  blood  ! " 

The  Bad  Wolf  trembled. 

"  I  —  I  —  am  a  faithful  ally,"  said  he. 
"I  —  I  play  no   tricks." 

"  You  had  better  not !  "  growled  the  King. 
u  Now  go !  These  wolves  will  stay  with 
you    here   till    nightfall ;    and    then    all    of 


TRICKS   OF   THE   BAD   WOLF      149 

you  can  go   forth   on  the  hunt  for  man's 
meat." 

The  three  wolves  then  led  the  Bad  Wolf 
back  to  a  great  dark  cave  whose  sides  were 
slimy  with  toadstools,  and  kept  him  there 
all  day.  They  gave  him  a  piece  of  bull- 
meat  for  his  dinner,  and  some  water  in  a 
turtle-shell.  When  it  was  nearly  night,  they 
called  him ;  and  the  four  set  out  together  on 
their  long  run  across  the  open  fields.  The 
Grey  Wolf  ran  on  one  side  of  the  Bad  Wolf, 
and  the  other  Messenger  on  the  other.  The 
Guide  followed  close  behind  him. 

On  and  on  and  on  they  went,  trotting 
swiftly  over  hill  and  dale,  through  bushes 
and  briars,  past  groves  and  swamps,  swim- 
ming through  rivers,  and  wading  through 
brooks.  At  about  midnight,  they  passed 
around  the  Bad  Wolfs  woods,  and  came  to 
the  Farmer's  yard. 

11  There !  "  said  the  Bad  Wolf,  pointing. 
"  There  is  the  house  where  the  Farmer 
lives." 

The  lights  in  the  house  were  all  out ;  but 
the  starlight  showed  where  it  was.  The 
four  wolves  crept  up  to  the  house,  and  then 


11 


150     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

lay  down  for  a  while  to  rest  a  little  after 
their  long  run,  and  to  get  their  breath  for 
the  fight. 

Now  it  happened  that  on  this  particular 
evening,  a  strong  breeze  was  blowing,  so 
that  the  night  was  very  cool ;  and  the  Far- 
mer had  shut  the  lower  windows  of  the 
house,  and  locked  them  fast.  Consequently, 
when  the  four  wolves  had  got  their  breath, 
and  had  crawled  stealthily  up  to  the  house, 
they  found  no  opening  within  their  reach. 
The  Red  Wolves  turned  fiercely  on  the  Bad 
Wolf. 

"  You  have  lied  to  us ! "  snarled  they. 
"  You  have  lied  to  us,  and  you  shall  die ! " 

"  No,  no !  "  cried  the  Bad  Wolf.  "  I  told 
you  the  truth ;  only  it  is  different  somehow 
to-night.  But  see !  see  !  there  is  an  upper 
window  open !" 

Sure  enough,  an  upper  window  on  the 
second  floor  was  still  unfastened.  The 
reason  of  it  was,  that  the  Farmer,  after  un- 
dressing himself  and  putting  out  the  lights, 
had  felt  like  smoking  his  pipe  before  going 
to  bed,  and  was  sitting  in  his  chair  by  the 
window   at    that    very    moment.       But    of 


TRICKS   OF   THE   BAD   WOLF      151 

course  the  wolves  did  not  know  this.  They 
only  saw  that  the  window  was  open. 

"It's  very  high,"  said  the  Grey  Wolf. 
"We  can  never  jump  so  high  as  that." 

"  No,"  said  the  Guide;  "  but  we  must  get 
in.  Let  us  make  a  pile  of  wolves.  I  will 
stand  at  the  bottom ;  the  Black  Wolf,  here, 
can  climb  on  my  back;  you  two  can  get 
up  on  him;  and  the  top  wolf  can  easily 
climb  into  the  window." 

"Yes,"  said  the  Grey  Wolf ;  "but  there 
will  then  be  only  one  to  fight  the  man. 
Is  that  enough  ?  " 

"  There  '11  be  no  fight,"  said  the  Guide. 
"  They  're  all  asleep.  Do  you  slip  softly  in, 
and  find  their  sleeping-room,  and  kill  them 
while  they  sleep.  One  good  bite  in  the 
throat  for  each  will  be  enough.  Come ! 
Make  the  pile." 

As  he  spoke,  the  Guide  took  his  place 
under  the  window,  and  the  Bad  Wolf  tried 
to  climb  upon  his  back.  But  he  was 
clumsy,  and  the  strange  thing  that  he  was 
doing  so  excited  him  that  he  could  scarcely 
keep  his  balance  upon  the  Red  Wolf.  He 
had    to    try   it   several    times.     The   other 


152     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

wolves  helped  him;  and  when  he  showed 
himself  so  awkward,  they  growled  at  him, 
and  threatened  him  with  their  teeth. 

Now  the  Farmer,  as  he  sat  inside  the 
room  smoking,  heard  the  growls  and  the 
scuffling  of  paws  on  the  ground  below; 
and  he  leaned  over  very  cautiously  and 
looked  out.  There  were  four  great  wolves 
right  under  the  window. 

"  Jiminy ! "  said  the  Farmer  to  himself. 
-What's  all  this?" 

The  Farmer  had  been  a  great  hunter 
when  he  was  a  young  man,  and  he  knew 
in  a  minute  that  the  wolves  were  Red 
Wolves,  strong  and  fierce,  and  not  cowardly 
like  most  of  the  Black  Wolves.  He  knew, 
too,  that  they  had  come  to  enter  his  house 
and  to  kill  him  and  his  wife  and  his  little 
girl.  He  could  not  at  first  see  how  they  ex- 
pected to  get  in ;  but  a  second  peep  showed 
him  their  plan,  —  that  they  were  going  to 
climb  up  upon  each  other's  backs  to  the 
open  window. 

"  Jiminy !  "  said  the  Farmer  again.  "  The 
pesky  critters  !     I  11  pepper  their  hides." 

So  he  took  down  his  gun  and  his  powder- 


TRICKS   OF   THE   BAD   WOLF      153 

horn,  and  began  to  load.  He  put  in  a  tre- 
mendous charge  of  powder  and  then  felt 
for  his  bag  of  bullets.  All  of  a  sudden,  he 
remembered  that  it  was  empty. 

"  Jiminy ! "  said  he,  "  I  '11  have  to  use 
shot." 

But  when  he  took  up  his  shot-pouch,  he 
found  that  he  had  no  shot  left  either,  not 
even  bird-shot.  He  was  greatly  startled. 
He  put  his  gun  down,  and  took  another 
peep  out  of  the  window.  By  this  time, 
three  of  the  wolves  had  got  into  place, — 
the  Guide  on  the  ground,  the  Bad  Wolf 
next,  and  one  of  the  Messengers  on  his 
back.  In  a  few  minutes  more  the  Grey 
Wolf  would  be  climbing  into  the  window. 
The  Farmer  thought  hard.  An  idea  came 
into  his  head. 

"Hurray!"  said  he,  under  his  breath. 
"  /  '11  fix  'em  !  " 

He  remembered  that  the  next  day  was 
his  wife's  washing-day,  and  that  everything 
in  the  kitchen  was  ready  for  it.  He  hurried 
downstairs  in  his  bare  feet  to  the  base- 
ment. There,  on  the  big  stove,  was  a  great 
copper  cauldron  full  of  hot  water,  all  ready 


154       THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

for  the  morning's  wash.  It  held  about  eight 
gallons  of  water,  all  steaming  and  scalding 
hot. 

"  Aha ! "  cried  the  Farmer,  joyfully. 
"We'll  have  a  wolf-wash!" 

He  lifted  the  cauldron  off  the  fire  by  the 
handle,  and  carried  it  quickly  up  the  stairs 
to  the  open  window,  and  rested  it  on  the 
sill.  Just  at  that  moment  the  huge  head 
of  the  Grey  Wolf  appeared  at  the  opening, 
his  jaws  wide  open,  his  teeth  gleaming,  and 
his  eyes  glaring  in  the  darkness. 

"  Take  that !  "  roared  the  Farmer ;  and  he 
upset  the  whole  cauldron  out  of  the 
window. 

A  perfect  cataract  of  scalding  water  went 
sizzling  right  into  the  face  of  the  Grey 
Wolf,  and  down  the  backs  of  the  other 
wolves  below.  Every  drop  was  as  hot  as 
a  coal  of  fire,  and  burned  and  scalded 
straight  through  their  fur.  The  four  wolves 
gave  a  horrible  yell  of  pain ;  and  the  whole 
pile  of  them  tumbled  to  the  ground,  writh- 
ing and  squirming  and  howling.  Just  then 
the  Farmer,  who  was  watching  them,  remem- 
bered something.     He  turned  back  into  the 


TRICKS   OF   THE   BAD   WOLF      155 

room,  struck  a  match,  and  took  down  from 
the  shelf  a  paper  of  long  tacks. 

"  Why  did  n't  I  think  of  this  before  ?  "  he 
said. 

He  picked  up  his  gun  and  poured  the 
whole  paper  of  tacks  into  the  gun-barrel, 
and  then  rammed  down  a  piece  of  paper 
after  it.  Then  he  went  to  the  window  and 
took  aim  at  the  four  wolves  that  were 
writhing  in  a  solid  mass  below. 

"  Bang  !  "  went  the  gun,  with  a  great  spirt 
of  fire ;  and  in  half  a  second  about  a  thou- 
sand tacks  were  sticking  all  over  the  skins 
of  the  wolves,  like  cloves  in  a  pudding. 

This  was  more  than  they  could  stand. 
With  loud  howls,  they  rushed  across  the 
lawn,  and  tore  down  the  road  as  fast  as 
their  legs  could  carry  them.  Their  skins 
burned  so  from  the  scalding  water  that, 
when  they  reached  the  brook  where  the 
Frogs  lived,  they  jumped  right  into  it,  and 
lay  down  in  the  cool  water.  Oh,  how  good 
it  felt !  But  the  moment  the  Red  Wolves 
felt  a  little  better,  they  all  three  leaped  upon 
the  Bad  Wolf,  who  had  brought  them  into 
so  much  trouble.     They  seized  him  by  the 


156     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

0 

neck  and  held  him  under  the  water  till  they 
thought  he  was  drowned,  all  the  while  bit- 
ing him  and  snapping  great  pieces  out  of 
his  back.  When  they  supposed  that  he 
was  dead,  they  came  out  of  the  brook  and 
hurried  home  to  the  Lonely  Forest;  for 
they  knew  that  it  would  be  daylight  very 
soon,  and  that  if  they  should  be  seen,  par- 
ties of  men  would  come  out  with  guns,  and 
shoot  them. 

The  Bad  Wolf  was  not  dead,  but  he  was 
almost  dead  ;  and  when  he  crawled  out  of  the 
brook,  it  took  him  all  the  rest  of  the  night 
to  hobble  back  to  his  den.  His  ears  were 
bitten  off,  big  strips  of  fur  had  been  scalded 
out  by  the  hot  water,  and  his  skin  was  full 
of  tacks.  The  next  morning  he  lay  on  his 
bed  of  leaves  groaning,  when  the  Good 
Wolf  happened  along,  and  came  in.  The 
Fox  had  told  him  something  of  what  had 
happened. 

"  Good-morning,"  said  he  to  the  Bad 
Wolf.  "  Why,  what 's  the  matter  ?  You 
don't  seem  well !  " 

The  Bad  Wolf  was  too  miserable  to  think 
of  any  new  excuse,  so  he  said,  — 


TRICKS   OF  THE   BAD   WOLF     157 


"I — I — I  fell  off  a  fence  and 
hurt  my  back."  It5 

"What  again?"  said  the  Good 
Wolf,  with  a  grin.     "Well  you  -  ' 
look  as  though  when  you  fell, 
you'd  fallen  into  a  sausage-  I* 
chopper!" 

And  he  went  away  laugh 
ing. 


?ftv»«*w?  ««.«*«*   v 


f"*\$ 


X.  THE  GIANT'S  CASTLE 

FOR  a  long  time  Mabel  always  took 
the  same  morning  ride,  going  along 
the  straight  road  that  led  to  the 
Little  Pig's  red  house,  because  she  was 
afraid  that  she  might  get  lost  if  she  tried 
any  new  and  unknown  roads.  But  when  she 
found  that  she  was  six  years  old,  she  felt 
that  she  could  do  things  that  she  had  never 
done  before ;  and  besides,  she  was  growing 
tired  of  always  riding  over  the  same  road 
and  seeing  the  same  things  every  day.  So 
one  beautiful  morning  she  made  up  her 
mind  that  she  would  take  a  ride  in  a  differ- 
ent direction,  and  try  to  see  some  parts  of 
the  country  that  she  had  never  seen  before. 
"  I  'm  going  a  different  way,  this  morn- 
ing, Grandma,"  she  said,  as  she  went  out  of 
the  house.     "There's  a  road  that  goes  to 


THE   GIANT'S   CASTLE  159 

the  left  after  you  pass  the  Kitty-Cat's,  and 
I  'm  going  to  ride  that  way." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Grandma,  "  only  don't 
go  too  far.      Be  back  to  luncheon." 

"  Oh,  I  '11  be  back  in  time,"  said  Mabel, 
as  she  went  to  the  barn  and  climbed  on 
Rex's  back  for  her  new  ride. 

Down  the  road  she  trotted,  past  the  Cross 
Dog's  house,  and  over  the  bridge  where  the 
Frogs  lived,  and  past  the  Mooly  Cow's  and 
the  Kitty-Cat's,  till  she  came  to  the  road 
that  branched  off  to  the  left.  Mabel  pulled 
on  the  left  rein,  and  Rex,  much  to  his  sur- 
prise, turned  into  the  new  course.  It  was  a 
winding  road,  going  in  and  out  of  groves 
and  small  woods,  and  passing  between 
meadows  that  were  bright  with  flowers. 
Mabel  was  so  pleased  with  the  change  from 
the  old  sights,  that  she  went  farther  and 
farther,  now  making  Rex  trot,  and  now 
making  him  gallop.  The  sun  shone  bright ; 
the  air  was  soft  and  warm ;  and  both  Mabel 
and  Rex  enjoyed  every  minute  of  the  time. 
At  last,  as  she  came  out  of  a  dense  grove, 
Mabel  saw  before  her  a  great,  broad  river, 
shining  like  silver  in  the  sunlight.     Over  it 


160     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

was  a  splendid  stone  bridge.  She  had  never 
seen  a  river  before;  and  she  rode  quickly 
upon  the  bridge,  and  looked  up  and  down 
the  vast  stream  that  flowed  along  with  a 
million  ripples  among  the  arches.  Then 
she  crossed  it  and  came  to  a  road,  wider 
than  any  road  that  she  had  ever  seen  be- 
fore, and  passing  between  fields  fenced  with 
stone.  Each  field  was  so  large  that  she 
could  scarcely  see  the  fences  on  the  other 
side;  and  here  and  there  she  saw  men 
working,  dressed  in  red  from  head  to  foot. 

"  How  strange ! "  said  Mabel  to  herself. 
"  It 's  like  a  picture-book." 

On  she  rode,  and  still  she  saw  these  great 
wide  fields  and  groups  of  men  in  red.  At 
last  she  found  three  or  four  of  the  men 
working  near  the  fence  by  the  side  of  the 
road,  so  she  went  up  to  them  and  spoke  to 
them. 

"  Good-morning,  men,"  she  said.  "  Who 
owns  all  these  great  fields  ?  " 

The  men  looked  at  her  and  laughed. 

"  Don't  you  know  ?  "  asked  one  of  them. 
"  Why,  the  Giant  owns  them." 

Mabel  laughed  in  her  turn. 


THE   GIANT'S   CASTLE  161 

"They're  making  fun  of  me,"  said  she 
to  Rex,  and  rode  on. 

Pretty  soon  she  found  some  more  men 
near  the  roadside,  all  dressed  in  red  like 
the  others ;  and  she  stopped  and  spoke  to 
them  also. 

"  Who  owns  these  fields  ? "  she  asked. 
And  the  men  answered  with  a  look  of 
surprise,  — 

"  Why,  the  Giant  owns  them,  of  course/' 

"Dear  me!"  said  Mabel.  "Do  they 
really  mean  it  ?  " 

And  then  she  asked  :  — 

"  What 's  the  Giant's  name,  please  ?  " 

"  Ha,  ha  !  "  laughed  the  men.  "  Where 
have  you  been  that  you  don't  know  about 
the  Giant?  His  name  is  Cormoran,  and  he 
lives  in  the  castle  over  the  hill." 

"  Really  ?  "  said  Mabel.  "  And  why  do 
you  all  dress  in  red  ?  " 

"  Oh,  because  red  is  the  Giant's  favourite 
colour,"  said  they ;  "  and  all  his  people  dress 
in  red." 

"  Well,  well !  "  said  Mabel.  "  Where  did 
you  say  his  castle  is  ?  " 

"Straight  ahead  of  you,  over  the  hill," 
said  they. 


1 62     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

"  And  is  he  a  good  Giant  ?  "  asked  Mabel, 
curiously. 

"  W-e-11,  pretty  good,"  said  one  of  the 
men,  rather  doubtfully.  "  When  he  ain't 
put  out,  he 's  pretty  good ;  but  when  he 
don't  feel  just  right,  we  have  to  get  out  of 
his  way,  I  can  tell  you ! " 

Mabel  thought  a  moment. 

"  Anyway,"  she  said,  "  I  '11  just  ride  up  to 
the  top  of  the  hill  and  take  a  peep.  No- 
body '11  notice  me ;  and  I  'd  love  to  see  a 
Giant's  castle,  just  for  once." 

So  she  rode  up  the  steep  hill,  and  when 
she  reached  the  very  top  she  gave  a  cry  of 
wonder.  There  beneath  her,  in  a  beautiful 
green  valley,  was  an  immense  great  castle, 
so  enormous  that  it  seemed  like  a  whole 
city.  It  was  built  of  grey  stone,  and  its 
roofs  were  peaked,  and  covered  with  thick 
gold-leaf  so  that  they  glittered  in  the  sun- 
light. Immense  towers,  each  one  as  big  as 
ten  church  steeples,  rose  above  the  roofs, 
and  on  the  central  tower  there  floated  an 
enormous  red  flag. 

"  Is  n't  it  wonderful ! "  cried  Mabel,  as 
she  looked. 


THE   GIANT'S   CASTLE  163 

There  was  no  one  in  sight  anywhere ;  and 
Mabel  was  so  astonished  by  the  vast  size  of 
the  castle  that  she  forgot  to  be  afraid ;  and 
she  began  to  want  to  ride  down  the  hill  so 
as  to  see  everything  better. 

"  I  '11  just  go  up  to  the  front  gate,"  said 
Mabel  to  herself.  "  If  I  see  any  one  coming 
out,  I  can  turn  around  and  make  Rex  gallop 
away  quick.     I  '11  do  it !  " 

So  down  she  rode  into  the  valley,  looking 
at  the  castle  all  the  time  with  her  mouth 
wide  open.  As  she  came  nearer  and  nearer 
to  it,  she  saw  how  large  the  blocks  of  stone 
were,  and  how  immense  the  windows  were, 
and  she  wondered  more  and  more.  It  was 
stranger  than  anything  in  her  picture-books. 

Presently,  she  reached  the  front  entrance, 
and  found  a  double  door  of  iron  studded 
with  brass  nails,  and  with  great  spikes  on 
the  top  of  it.  The  door  was  almost  as  high 
as  an  ordinary  house;  and  Mabel  wondered 
how  any  one  could  be  strong  enough  to  push 
it  open.  She  noticed  that  the  lock  was 
bigger  than  her  whole  body,  and  the  key- 
hole wide  enough  for  her  to  put  her  head 

in. 

11 


1 64     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

"  I  wonder  if  I  could  peep  through  the 
cracks  in  the  door,"  said  Mabel  to  herself; 
and  she  was  making  Rex  go  nearer  to  the 
entrance  when  —  all  of  a  sudden  the  great 
door  flew  wide  open,  and  a  man  rushed  out, 
all  dressed  in  red  from  head  to  foot.  Mabel 
gave  a  scream,  and  tried  to  make  Rex 
gallop  off ;  but  as  soon  as  the  man  saw 
her,  he  gave  a  jump  and  caught  at  the 
bridle. 

"  Hurray !  "  he  said.  "  What  luck !  Here 's 
one  now  !  " 

Mabel  was  terribly  frightened. 

"  Let  me  go  !  Let  me  go  !  "  she  cried,  try- 
ing to  pull  the  reins  out  of  the  man's  hand. 

"  No,  no,  don't  go,"  he  said,  "  please  don't 
go  !  Don't  be  afraid ;  nobody 's  going  to 
hurt  you." 

Mabel  looked  at  him  carefully.  He  had 
a  good  face,  and  did  not  seem  like  a  cruel 
man. 

"  Don't  go,"  he  repeated. 

"  What  do  you  want  ?  "  asked  Mabel. 

"Why,  I  want  you  to  come  inside  the 
castle  for  a  little  while.  It  won't  do  you 
any  harm;  and  if  you  don't  come,  why   I 


THE   GIANT'S   CASTLE  165 

shall  be  eaten  up  by  the  Giant  at  sun- 
down/' 

"  How  do  you  mean  ?  "  asked  Mabel. 

"  Well,  1 11  tell  you,"  said  the  man.  "  You 
see  the  Giant's  little  girl  has  been  dreadfully 
sick  for  a  long  time,  and  she  's  just  getting 
better.  But  she  can't  go  out  yet,  and  has 
to  lie  on  the  sofa  in  the  nursery  all  day 
long.  She  's  terribly  lonely  without  any  one 
to  play  with  ;  and  the  Giant  thinks  she  'd  get 
well  faster  if  she  could  be  amused.  So  he 's 
just  sent  me  out  this  morning  to  find  a 
playmate  for  her,  and  said  that  if  I  did  n't 
bring  one  back  to-day,  he  'd  eat  me  up.  Now 
you're  just  what  I  want  —  a  nice  good- 
looking  little  girl.  So  please  come  in  and 
play  with  her  a  while,  won't  you  ?  " 

"  Oh,"  said  Mabel,  who  was  sorry  for  the 
man,  "  I  'd  like  to  oblige  you,  but  I  'm 
afraid  of  the  Giant." 

"  Pooh  ! "  said  the  man,  "  if  you  '11  play 
with  his  little  girl,  he  '11  be  as  good  as  can 
be ;  and  besides  you  won't  be  likely  to  see 
him  anyhow.     Will  you  come  in  ?  " 

"And  can  I  come  away  again  when  I 
want  to?"  asked  Mabel. 


166     THE   ADVENTURES    OF    MABEL 

"  Oh,  yes !  You  just  play  a  little  while, 
and  then  say  you  '11  come  back  again  some 
other  day,  and  they  '11  let  you  out." 

Mabel  hesitated.  She  was  very  curious 
to  see  the  inside  of  the  castle,  but  she  still 
felt  a  little  afraid. 

"  What  is  the  little  girl's  name?  "  asked  she. 

"  Elsie,"  said  the  man  ;  "  and  she  's  a  real 
pleasant  little  girl,  too.  She  '11  be  awfully 
glad  to  see  you." 

"  W-e-11,"  said  Mabel,  slowly,  "  I  '11  come 
in,  if  you  're  sure  they  '11  let  me  out  as  soon 
as  I  want  to  leave."    v 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  the  man,  who  looked  very 
happy,  now  that  he  saw  Mabel  was  going  to 
go  inside.  "  Thank  you  very  much,  little 
girl.     Now  I  won't  have  to  be  eaten." 

He  went  up  to  the  great  double  door  and 
pulled  a  chain. 

Clang  !  Clang !  went  a  big  bell,  and  the 
door  flew  wide  open.  Mabel  looked  in  and 
saw  a  vast  courtyard  as  large  as  a  meadow. 
It  was  paved  with  stone,  and  the  inner 
windows  of  the  castle  opened  upon  it.  On 
one  side  was  a  great  inner  doorway  with 
stone   steps.     A  number  of    men    dressed 


\M 


/ 


^*V»*W*^  ^^^"tt#%«,'C^ 


Mabel  looked    up,    and    her   heart   nearly  stopped  beating,   for  out  of  the 

window  came  an  enormous  face. 


f      i     I 


<    /  f   r     t 


THE   GIANT'S   CASTLE  167 

in  red  and  looking  like  soldiers,  were  stand- 
ing about.  They  carried  spears  and  had 
iron  hats  on  their  heads. 

The  man  led  Rex  into  the  courtyard,  with 
Mabel  still  seated  in  the  saddle. 

"  Who  comes  here  ?  "  asked  one  of  the 
spearmen  in  red. 

"A  playmate  for  the  little  Lady  Elsie," 
said  Mabel's  man. 

The  spearmen  all  bowed  very  low. 

"  She  is  welcome,"  said  they  all. 

"  Come,  take  care  of  her  horse,"  said 
Mabel's  man,  "  while  I  show  her  up  to  the 
nursery." 

So  one  of  them  lifted  Mabel  off  Rex's 
back,  and  another  took  Rex  by  the  head  to 
lead  him  to  the  stable. 

"  This  way,  little  girl,"  said  Mabel's  man, 
and  he  started  to  show  her  toward  the 
door  on  the  right.  Just  at  that  moment  a 
window  above  was  opened  with  a  loud 
bang.  Mabel  looked  up,  and  her  heart 
nearly  stopped  beating,  for  out  of  the  win- 
dow came  an  enormous  face.  It  was  the 
Giant.  His  head  was  as  large  as  a  hay- 
stack,  and    was    fringed   with   a   long   red 


168     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

beard.  Tufts  of  red  hair  stuck  out  under 
his  helmet,  and  his  eyes  were  like  great 
lamps  as  he  looked  down  into  the  court- 
yard. He  opened  his  mouth  and  spoke; 
and  his  voice  was  like  the  roll  of  thunder. 

"WHAT  HAVE  YOU  THERE?"  he 
bellowed;  and  Mabel  nearly  fainted  when 
she  heard  his  tremendous  voice. 

"A  playmate  for  the  little  Lady  Elsie," 
answered  Mabel's  man. 

"  OH  !  "  roared  the  Giant ;  and  he  smiled 
a  smile  six  feet  long.  He  was  evidently 
very  much  pleased. 

"GOOD!"  he  continued.  "SHOW 
HER   UP   TO   THE    NURSERY." 

And  he  banged  the  window  down  again 
and  went  away. 

"  See,"  said  the  man,  "  he 's  all  right  now. 
He  '11  be  pleased  all  the  rest  of  the  day. 
Come  on." 

They  went  in  through  the  doorway,  where 
there  was  a  tall  flight  of  stairs.  Each  step 
was  so  high  that  Mabel  could  not  stretch 
her  little  legs  up  from  one  to  the  other ;  but 
the  man  took  her  under  the  arms  and  boosted 
her  a  step  at  a  time,  till  at  last  they  reached 


THE   GIANT'S   CASTLE  169 

the  top  of  the  stairs,  where  was  a  white, 
enamelled  door.  The  man  knocked  on  it, 
and  blew  a  silver  whistle. 

"  Come  in  ! "  said  a  loud  voice  inside. 

The  man  pushed  the  door  open,  and  told 
Mabel  to  go  in.  She  found  herself  in  a 
long,  high  room,  about  the  size  of  a  small 
church.  It  was  a  very  pretty  room.  It 
was  papered  in  white  and  gold,  and  car- 
peted with  soft,  fleecy  rugs,  and  had  a  great 
many  tall,  silver  vases  here  and  there,  filled 
with  big  clusters  of  roses  and  pinks ;  and 
at  one  end  was  a  big  bay-window  curtained 
with  exquisite  lace  and  rose-coloured  silk, 
through  which  the  sunlight  streamed  in  and 
flooded  the  room  with  warmth  and  colour. 
At  one  side  of  the  room  was  a  sofa  about 
as  long  as  two  ordinary  beds,  with  pillows 
of  pale-blue  silk,  and  a  pretty  spread  of  silk 
and  lace.  There  lay  the  Giants  little  girl, 
looking  eagerly  toward  her  new  playmate. 
She  was  about  eight  feet  tall,  being  small 
for  her  age,  and  she  had  dark  hair  and 
brown  eyes.  Her  cheeks  were  pale;  but 
she  had  a  beautiful  face  which  lighted  up 
as  she  saw  Mabel. 


i7o     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

"  Oh,  goody  !  "  she  said,  "  now  I  Ve  got 
some  one  to  play  with !  But  ain't  you 
awfully  little !  Why  you  must  be  a  dwarf !  " 

"  No,  I  'm  not !  "  said  Mabel ;  "  but  you  're 
awfully  big.  Why,  they  said  you  were  a 
little  girl ! " 

"  So  I  am,"  said  Elsie ;  "  but  you  see  I  'm 
a  Giant.     What 's  your  name  ?  " 

«  Mabel." 

"  And  how  old  are  you  ?  " 

"  Six,"  said  Mabel,  proudly. 

"  Why,  so  am  I !  "  said  Elsie ;  u  I  was  six 
last  week.  Come  over  here,  and  I  '11  show 
you  some  of  the  toys  that  Papa  gave  me  on 
my  birthday.     Here  's  my  doll." 

And  she  pulled  out  a  doll  from  under  her 
pillow.     It  was  as  large  as  Mabel  herself. 

"  And  here 's  my  toy  horse,"  she  said, 
pulling  out  from  behind  her  a  wooden  horse 
about  the  size  of  a  Shetland  pony. 

"  My !  what  big  toys  !  "  said  Mabel. 

"  Oh,  do  you  think  so  ? "  asked  Elsie. 
"Here's  my  tin  soldiers.  Here's  myjack- 
in-the  box.     Here 's  my  new  tea-set." 

The  tin  soldiers  were  so  heavy  that  Mabel 
could  not  lift  them.     The  plates  in  the  tea- 


THE   GIANT'S    CASTLE  171 

set  were  as  big  around  as  the  top  of  a 
table. 

"  How  funny !  "  said  Mabel,  laughing. 

Just  then  a  loud  rustling  and  flapping 
made  Mabel  look  behind  her,  and  then  she 
noticed  a  sort  of  bird-cage  as  big  as  a 
chicken-coop.  In  it  was  a  great  yellow 
bird  rustling  its  wings. 

"  Oh  !  "  said  Mabel,  "  where  did  you  get 
the  eagle  ?  " 

"  Ha,  ha,  ha !  "  laughed  Elsie ;  "  that  is  n't 
an  eagle ;  that 's  my  canary." 

Mabel  laughed  too. 

"  It  must  be  awfully  queer  to  be  a  Giant," 
she  said.  "  Don't  you  feel  too  big  some- 
times ?  " 

"  Oh,  dear,  no,"  said  Elsie.  "  You  see  I 
was  born  big ;  and  I  should  think  you  'd 
feel  much  too  little." 

"  Not  a  bit,"  said  Mabel.  "  You  see  / 
was  born  little." 

"Well,  have  some  candy,"  said  Elsie. 
"  My  Papa  gave  me  a  lot  of  it  on  my  birth- 
day ;  but  I  can't  eat  any  till  I  get  well,  so 
I  '11  give  you  some." 

She   drew   out   a   pasteboard   box   from 


172     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

under  the  sofa.  It  was  about  the  size  of  a 
packing-box ;  and  when  she  took  the  lid  off, 
Mabel  saw  that  it  was  lined  with  lace 
paper.  Elsie  took  out  a  great  lump  of 
something  that  was  brown  in  colour,  and 
set  it  on  the  floor  beside  Mabel.  It  came 
up  to  her  knees. 

"What's  that?"  she  said,  looking  at  it 
curiously. 

"  Ha,  ha,"  laughed  Elsie.  "  Why,  where 
have  you  been  all  your  life  ?  Did  n't  you 
ever  see  a  chocolate-cream  drop  ? " 

"  Gracious  !  "  cried  Mabel.  "  Is  that  a 
chocolate-cream  drop?  Why,  just  that  one 
would  last  me  for  two  weeks." 

She  tried  to  lift  it  up  to  her  mouth  to 
take  a  bite;  but  it  was  too  heavy.  Then 
she  got  down  on  her  knees,  and  tried  to  bite 
a  piece  out  of  it ;  but  it  was  so  big  that  she 
could  n't  get  hold  of  it  with  her  teeth.  Elsie 
looked  on  and  laughed  as  though  she  would 
never  stop. 

"  I  can't  get  any,"  said  Mabel,  who  had 
only  succeeded  in  smearing  the  end  of  her 
nose  with  chocolate  ;  "  and  I  love  chocolate- 
cream  drops,  too." 


THE   GIANT'S   CASTLE  173 

"  Dear  me,"  said  Elsie,  "  there  must  be 
some  way  of  doing  it.  I  know !  Look  in 
my  toy-box  by  the  table,  and  you  '11  find  a 
toy  axe." 

Mabel  found  the  toy  axe,  which  was  as 
large  as  an  ordinary  hatchet,  and  with  this 
she  knelt  down  on  the  floor,  and  began  to 
chop  the  chocolate-cream  drop.  Pretty  soon 
she  had  chopped  off  some  good-sized  chunks, 
small  enough  to  be  held  in  the  hand.  They 
were  delicious ;  and  she  sat  on  the  floor  eat- 
ing them,  while  Elsie  shook  with  laughter 
at  the  idea  of  taking  an  axe  to  a  chocolate- 
cream  drop. 

Just  at  that  moment  a  noise  was  heard  in 
the  hall,  —  bump  !  bump  !  bump  I  making 
the  very  walls  tremble. 

"  What  s  that,  Elsie  ?  "  asked  Mabel,  with 
her  mouth  full  of  chocolate-cream. 

14  Oh,  that  's  my  Papa  coming  downstairs," 
said  Elsie;  and,  sure  enough,  a  moment 
later  the  nursery-door  opened,  and  Cormoran 
strode  into  the  room. 

Mabel  knew  that  he  would  not  do  her 
any  harm;  but  still  she  could  not  help  feel- 
ing a  little  startled  at  being  so  near  to  a 


i74     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

Giant  He  seemed  bigger  than  ever,  in  the 
small  nursery.  He  wore  enormous  jack- 
boots, and  carried  a  long  knife  by  his  side. 
As  he  came  in,  he  looked  at  the  children. 
When  he  saw  the  toys  scattered  over  the 
floor,  and  Mabel  eating  the  chocolate-cream 
drop;  and  when  he  noticed  how  Elsie 
laughed,  and  how  bright  her  eyes  were,  and 
how  her  pale  cheeks  were  once  more 
flushed  with  colour,  his  great  face  beamed 
with  happiness,  and  he  smiled  hugely. 

"HAVING  A  GOOD  PLAY,  ARE 
YOU?"  he  asked  in  his  thunderous  voice. 
"THAT'S  RIGHT,  PLAY  AWAY!  I 
HAVE  NT  SEEN  YOU  LOOKING  SO 
GAY  IN  MANY  A  WEEK,  ELSIE:' 

Then  turning  to  Mabel,  he  said : 

"YOU'RE  A  GOOD  LITTLE  GIRL. 

YOU  MUST  STAY  WITH  US." 

"  Oh,  no,  I  really  can't  stay,"  cried  Mabel. 
u  My  Grandma  would  be  so  frightened.  But 
I  '11  come  back  and  play  with  Elsie  as  often 
as  you  want ;  for  I  love  her,  and  we  're  hav- 
ing splendid  fun  together." 


THE   GIANT'S   CASTLE  17s 

"WELL,  WELL,"  said  the  Giant.  "I 
WONT  KEEP  YOU;  ONLY  DON'T 
FORGET  TO  COME  BACK  EVERY 
FEW  DAYS.  AND  WHEN  YOU  GET 
READY  TO  GO  TO-DAY,  JUST  STOP 
AT  MY  DOOR  ON  YOUR  WAY  OUT, 
AND  I'LL  GIVE  YOU  SOMETHING 
FOR  A  KEEPSAKE." 

And  with  these  words  he  went  out  of  the 
nursery  and  shut  the  door.  The  children 
played  together  a  long  while,  until  Mabel 
suddenly  remembered  that  it  must  already 
be  after  her  luncheon-time,  so  she  told 
Elsie   that   she   would    have    to   go. 

"  Well,  good-bye,  dear,"  said  Elsie.  "  Don't 
forget  to  come  again  soon  ;  and  be  sure  you 
stop  at  my  Papa's  door  at  the  other  end  of 
the  hall." 

They  kissed  each  other;  and  Elsie  rang  a 
bell  for  the  man  in  red  to  show  Mabel  the 
way  out.  First,  he  took  her  to  the  Giant's 
den,  and  knocked  on  the  door. 

"  COME  IN  ! "  said  a  great  voice,  and  the 
door  opened,  and  Mabel  found  herself  in 
the  den.     It  was  the  largest  room  she  had 

13 


176     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

ever  seen.  The  walls  were  hung  with  clubs 
of  every  kind, — plain  clubs  and  spiked  clubs, 
and  clubs  with  great  knobs  on  them  —  be- 
sides spears,  swords,  knives,  axes,  and  pikes. 
A  long  table  was  covered  with  books,  each 
one  as  large  as  a  door.  Mabel,  who  had 
just  learned  to  read  a  little,  spelled  out  the 
names  on  the  backs  of  two  of  them :  The 
Life  of  Og,  and  Men  I  have  Eaten.  There 
were  also  a  good  many  pictures  on  the 
walls,  showing  other  Giants  who  were  prob- 
ably the  relatives  of  Cormoran. 

"WELL,    LITTLE    GIRL,"   said    the 

Giant    kindly,    "  SO    YOU'RE    GOING 

HOME    ARE    YOU?      I    WANT    TO 

GIVE  YOU  A  LITTLE  PRESENT." 

So  he  drew  out  a  large  drawer  in  the 
table,  and  told  Mabel  to  take  anything  she 
liked.  There  were  long  strings  of  bright 
stones,  blue  and  red  and  white ;  and  even  in 
the  dark  drawer  they  gleamed  and  shone  as 
if  they  were  darting  sparks  of  fire.  Each 
one  was  as  big  as  a  robin's  egg. 

"HAVE  A  NECKLACE?"  said  the 
Giant,  pulling  out  a  dozen  or  more  of 
them. 


THE   GIANT'S   CASTLE  177 

"  No,  thank  you,"  said  Mabel.  "  My 
Grandma  says  that  it  is  n't  nice  to  wear 
glass." 

"  HA,  HA,  HA  !  "  roared  the  Giant,  burst- 
ing into  laughter  so  loud  that  Mabel  stopped 
her  ears  up  with  her  fingers.  He  was 
greatly  amused  to  hear  Mabel  call  the  stones 
glass,  for  they  were  really  the  largest  and 
finest  gems  in  the  world,  —  sapphires  and 
rubies  and  diamonds. 

"WELL,   THEN,    HAVE   A   RING," 

said  he,  still  chuckling ;  and  he  showed  her 
a  box  full  of  rings. 

"  I  'm  afraid  they  're  too  large,"  said 
Mabel ;  for  the  smallest  was  as  big  around 
as  a  hoople. 

"BLESS  ME!"  said  the  Giant,  "SO 
THEY  ARE." 

He  seemed  quite  disturbed  at  not  being 
able  to  give  her  anything.  Finally  an  idea 
came  into  his  head.  He  took  out  a  great 
coil  of  frosted  gold  wire,  and  began  to  braid 
it  into  a  belt.  He  worked  quickly,  and  soon 
he  had  made  a  very  quaint  and  curious 
band   of   an   odd   pattern. 


178     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

"THERE!"  he  said,  as  he  slipped  it 
around  her  waist. 

"  Oh,  thank  you  !  "  cried  Mabel,  who  was 
no  longer  afraid  of  him.  "  Is  n't  that  lovely ! 
Good-bye." 

"  GOOD-BYE,"  said  he.  "  DONT  FOR- 
GET  TO   COME   AGAIN." 

Mabel  went  out  into  the  hall;  and  the 
man  in  red  helped  her  down  the  big  steps 
into  the  courtyard.  As  she  passed  through 
the  door,  the  great  bell  of  the  castle  clanged, 
and  the  spearmen  stood  in  line  and  saluted 
her.  One  of  them  brought  out  Rex,  who 
had  had  a  fine  dinner  of  giant-oats.  The 
man  in  red  lifted  Mabel  to  the  saddle ;  the 
outer  gate  flew  open ;  she  waved  her  hand 
to  the  men  and  spoke  to  Rex,  and  away  she 
galloped  out  into  the  road,  never  stopping 
until  she  had  passed  the  stone  bridge,  the 
Kitty-Cat's  house,  the  Mooly  Cow's,  the 
Frogs'  bridge,  and  the  Cross  Dog's,  and 
come  clattering  into  her  own  yard. 

It  was  already  four  o'clock,  and  Grandma 
had  begun  to  fear  that  Mabel  was  lost. 

"Why,  where   have  you  been,   Mabel?" 


THE   GIANT'S   CASTLE  179 

asked  she.  "You  didn't  come  back  to 
luncheon,  and  I  was  quite  worried  about 
you.     Were  you  lost  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Mabel ;  "  but  I  Ve  had 
such  a  good  time  that  I  forgot  all  about 
luncheon.  You  see  I  went  down  a  new 
road,  and  there  I  met  a  little  girl  and  played 
with  her  in  her  own  nursery.  She  is  a  very 
good  little  girl,  Grandma,  and  I  'm  going 
back  to  see  her  before  long." 

"  What  is  her  name  ?  "  said  Grandma. 

"  Oh,  Elsie,"  answered  Mabel ;  "  and  she 
has  lots  of  toys  and  candy  and  things." 

Just  then  Grandma  noticed  the  golden 
belt  that  glittered  in  the  sunlight  around 
Mabel's    waist. 

"  Why,  Mabel  1 "  she  cried.  "  Where  did 
you  get  that  belt  ?  What  a  beautiful  pat- 
tern !  And  it  looks  as  bright  and  fine  as 
real  gold." 

"Oh,"  said  Mabel,  "the  little  girl's  Papa 
gave  it  to  me.  You  see,  the  little  girl  has 
been  sick  and  wanted  some  one  to  play  with, 
so  her  Papa  was  very  glad  that  I  came." 

"  Dear  me ! "  said  Grandma.  "  I  wonder 
who   these   people   are." 


180     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

But  Mabel  did  not  say  anything  about 
their  being  Giants,  for  she  knew  that 
Grandma  would  be  dreadfully  frightened  if 
she  heard  that  her  little  girl  had  been  to 
visit  a  Giant's  castle. 


XL  THE  BROWNIE  JELLY 

ONE  day,  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  Mabel  put  on  her  sun- 
bonnet  and  took  a  little  basket  and 
went  down  into  the  woods  to  pick  black- 
berries. It  was  getting  to  be  rather  late  in 
the  summer,  and  the  berries  were  not  very 
plenty,  so  that  she  had  to  go  a  long  way  into 
the  woods  before  she  found  any  bushes  that 
were  well  filled.  But  at  last  she  came  upon 
a  great  thicket,  full  of  briars,  but  with 
bushes  on  which  the  ripe  berries  were  so 
thick  that  she  cried  out  with  joy  when  she 
saw  them.  Behind  the  thicket  rose  an 
enormous  rock,  half  hidden  by  vines  and 
creepers. 

Mabel  got  down  on  her  hands  and  knees, 
picking  away  as  hard   as  she  could;   and 


182     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

when  she  had  gathered  all  the  berries  on 
the  outside  of  the  thicket,  she  began  to 
creep  along  the  ground  into  the  midst  of 
the  bushes,  avoiding  the  sharp  briars,  and 
reaching  up  for  the  berries  that  hung  above 
her  head.  Further  and  further  she  crept, 
like  a  little  mouse  in  a  haystack,  and  by  the 
time  she  had  crawled  through  to  the  rock, 
her  basket  was  nearly  full.  At  this  moment, 
however,  she  saw  to  her  surprise  that  the 
base  of  the  rock,  which  had  been  hidden  by 
the  bushes,  was  not  solid,  but  that  there  was 
a  large  hole  in  it  which  seemed  to  have  been 
hollowed  out  of  the  stone.  It  was  an  open- 
ing about  half  as  high  as  Mabel  herself, 
and  appeared  as  though  it  led  into  a  sort 
of  dark  tunnel  in  the  rock. 

"  Well !  "  said  Mabel,  "  that  looks  like  a 
kind  of  cave.     I  wonder  if  it  is." 

She  peered  into  the  hole ;  but  it  was  too 
dark  for  her  to  see  what  was  inside  of  it, 
so  she  thought  that  she  would  crawl  in  just 
a  little  way  to  find  out  how  far  into  the 
rock  it  went.  In  she  crept  on  her  hands 
and  knees,  and  as  soon  as  she  had  got  inside, 
she  discovered  that  the  hole,  instead  of  grow- 


THE   BROWNIE  JELLY  183 

ing  smaller  or  coming  to  an  end,  was  even 
larger  than  it  had  looked.  She  felt  of  the 
sides  and  of  the  top  with  her  hands,  and 
found  that  by  crawling  a  little  further  she 
could  stand  on  her  feet  without  touching 
the  rock  overhead. 

"  Dear  me  I "  said  she,  greatly  excited. 
"  it  's  like  a  hall  in  a  house.  I  wonder  where 
it  leads  to." 

She  thought  at  first  that  it  might  be  the 
den  of  some  wild  animal ;  so  she  whistled 
the  Call  two  or  three  times,  but  got  no 
answer. 

"  I  '11  go  on,"  thought  she.  ■"  I  can  easily 
find  my  way  out ; "  for  when  she  turned 
around  she  could  still  see  the  mouth  of  the 
cave,  and  the  sunlight  shining  beyond  it. 

So  on  she  walked,  putting  her  feet  down 
very  carefully  at  every  step,  for  fear  she 
should  fall  into  some  hole ;  and  pretty  soon 
she  came  to  a  sharp  turn  in  the  passage- 
way, where  she  had  to  go  around  a  corner. 
As  soon  as  she  had  turned  the  corner,  she 
found  a  very  broad,  high  passage ;  and  at 
the  end  of  it  a  long  ray  of  light,  like  a 
bright  pencil,  shone  far  out  into  the  dark- 


1 84     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

ness.  It  seemed  to  come  through  a  little 
hole  in  the  rock  at  the  end  of  the  tunnel. 

"What's  that?"  thought  Mabel.  "  I  '11 
walk  very  softly  up  to  it  and  see.,, 

A  dozen  more  steps  brought  her  to  the 
chink  through  which  the  light  was  stream- 
ing. She  groped  about  the  wall  with  her  lit- 
tle hands,  and  found  that  it  felt  like  a  great 
stone  door,  while  the  chink  was  exactly  the 
shape  of  a  key-hole.  As  she  stood  there, 
she  could  hear  voices  on  the  other  side  of 
the  door,  and  now  and  then  the  sound  of 
laughter  and  the  strains  of  gay  music.  She 
was  ever  so  curious,  and  was  just  putting 
up  her  head  to  peek  through  the  key-hole, 
when  all  of  a  sudden  she  sneezed,  —  a  loud, 
long  sneeze.  Instantly,  even  before  she  had 
stopped  sneezing,  the  door  in  front  of  her 
flew  wide  open,  a  flood  of  brilliant  light 
poured  out  into  the  dark  tunnel,  and  in  the 
doorway  Mabel  saw  a  funny  little  figure 
standing  before  her.  He  had  a  queer  peaked 
cap  on  his  head,  and  a  comical,  merry  look 
on  his  face ;  and  Mabel  knew  at  once  that 
he  was  a  Brownie. 

When  the    Brownie  saw   her  he  looked 


THE   BROWNIE  JELLY  185 

very  much  surprised,  and  then  began  to 
laugh. 

"Gracious  goodness  ! "  cried  he.  "  A  little 
girl!    How  in  the  world  did  you  get  here?" 

"  I  crept  through  the  bushes  after  berries,,, 
said  Mabel,  who  was  very  much  amused  by 
the  Brownie's  looks ;  "  and  I  found  a  big 
hole  in  the  rock,  and  followed  along  until 
I  reached  this  door." 

11  Well,  well,  well !  "  said  the  Brownie. 
"  Come  in." 

He  stepped  aside ;  Mabel  walked  through 
the  doorway ;  and  he  shut  the  door  after  her. 

She  found  herself  in  a  noble  hall  whose 
walls  were  panelled  with  silver,  and  whose 
ceiling  was  carved  out  of  solid  gold.  Here 
and  there,  clusters  of  what  looked  like  great 
pearls  were  embedded  in  the  golden  ceiling, 
and  from  them  shone  the  soft,  clear  light 
that  filled  the  hall  with  its  radiance,  and 
gleamed  on  the  silver  panels  and  the  yellow 
gold.  All  about  were  easy-chairs  of  some 
rich  white  stuff ;  and  huge  cushions  of  velvet 
were  placed  along  the  sides  of  the  hall.  On 
them  were  seated  half  a  dozen  Brownies, 
chattering  away  to  each  other,  while  in  the 


186     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

middle  of  the  hall  a  number  of  them  were 
playing  tag  and  leap-frog.  Now  and  then, 
lively  music  could  be  heard,  played  by  a  band 
of  musicians  whom  Mabel  could  not  see. 

When  they  saw  Mabel,  all  the  Brownies 
stopped  talking  and  playing,  and  crowded 
about  her  with  their  bright  little  faces  full 
of  curiosity. 

"  A  little  girl  1 "  they  all  shouted.  "  How 
did  you  come  here  ?  " 

Mabel  told  them  all  about  it;  and  as  she 
told  them,  they  laughed  and  chuckled.  She 
looked  at  them  very  carefully  all  the  while ; 
and  she  could  remember  having  seen  pic- 
tures of  most  of  them  in  one  of  her  books. 
There  was  the  Soldier  Brownie,  and  the 
Sailor  Brownie,  the  Policeman  Brownie, 
the  Dude  Brownie,  the  Chinese  Brownie, 
the  Indian  Brownie,  and  the  Irish  Brownie; 
but  there  were  many  new  Brownies  that 
she  had  never  heard  anything  about. 

When  she  had  finished  telling  them  how 
she  had  found  her  way  into  the  cave,  they 
all  laughed  again ;  and  every  one  of  them 
shook  hands  with  her,  and  told  her  to  make 
herself  at  home. 


THE   BROWNIE   JELLY  187 

"  Sit  down  on  the  big  cushion  near  the 
wall,"  said  the  Brownie  who  had  opened 
the  door  for  her.  "  I  Ve  got  to  go  and  tell 
the  King  about  your  being  here,  and  see 
what  he  has  to  say ;  but  I  '11  be  back  soon. 
So  have  a  good  time  with  my  brothers 
while  I  'm  gone." 

Mabel  sat  down  and  watched  them  as 
they  romped  about,  playing  all  sorts  of 
tricks  on  each  other,  and  laughing  at 
every  kind  of  joke,  wrhile  the  music  played 
the  gayest  tunes.  Pretty  soon  a  Waiter 
Brownie  came  up  to  Mabel  with  a  gold 
tray  on  which  stood  a  silver  jar.  It  was 
open,  and  was  full  of  something  amber- 
coloured,  in  which  there  was  a  small  gold 
spoon. 

"What's  this?"  asked  Mabel,  as  she 
looked  at  it. 

"  Jelly,"  said  the  Waiter  Brownie.  "  Taste 
it ;  it 's  awfully  good." 

Mabel  took  the  golden  spoon,  and  put  a 
little  of  the  jelly  in  her  mouth. 

"  Ah-h-h !  "  she  said,  rolling  up  her  eyes. 

It  was  the  most  delicious  morsel  that  she 
had  ever  tasted  in  her  life.     It  was  like  all 


1 88     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

the  loveliest  kinds  of  ice-cream  blended 
together,  with  pounded  almonds  and  choco- 
late and  strawberries ;  and  it  melted  away 
on  her  tongue  like  honey. 

"Ah-h-h!"  said  Mabel  again;  and  she 
took  the  jar  into  her  lap  and  began  eating 
the  jelly  slowly  to  make  it  last  as  long  as 
she  could.  When  she  had  finished,  she 
scraped  the  bottom  and  then  gave  a  great 
sigh  of  satisfaction. 

Just  at  this  moment,  the  Brownie  whom 
she  had  first  seen  came  back  into  the  hall, 
and  beckoned  to  her. 

"  The  King  wants  to  see  you,"  he  said. 
"  Come  with  me,  and  I  '11  show  you  the 
way." 

He  led  her  out  through  a  short  passage, 
and  into  a  room  that  was  the  most  splendid 
room  that  she  could  ever  have  imagined. 
It  was  not  very  large ;  but  the  walls  were 
encrusted  with  thousands  of  great  uncut 
rubies  of  the  richest  red,  the  ceiling  was 
starred  with  diamonds,  and  the  floor  was  of 
beaten  gold.  At  one  end  of  the  room  the 
Brownie  King  was  sitting  on  a  low  throne. 
He  was  a  jolly-looking  old  Brownie,  dressed 


THE    BROWNIE   JELLY  189 

all  in  scarlet,  with  a  crown  on  the  back  of 
his  head.  Beside  him  was  a  pipe  with  a 
long  stem  encrusted  with  diamonds,  and  on 
a  table  near  him  stood  a  large  gold  mug 
with  a  lid.  His  brown  eyes  twinkled  when 
he  saw  Mabel. 

"  Aha,  little  girl,"  said  he  ;  "  come  in  !  I 
want  to  see  you,  for  you  're  the  only  little 
girl  who  ever  found  her  way  to  our  house, 
and  no  little  girl  will  ever  be  able  to  do  it 
again  ;  so  I  want  you  to  have  a  good  time 
while  you  Ye  here,  and  carry  away  many 
pleasant  thoughts  of  the  Brownies.  Did 
you  enjoy  yourself  in  the  Great  Hall  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  King,"  said  Mabel.  "  I  had  a 
splendid  time  there,  and  some  jelly." 

"  What 's  your  name,  my  dear  ?  "  asked 
the  King. 

-  Mabel." 

"  Well,  Mabel,"  said  he,  patting  her  on 
the  head,  "  you  must  let  me  give  you  some- 
thing to  remember  the  Brownies  by."  Then 
he  turned  to  Mabel's  guide  and  continued, 
"  Show  Mabel  into  the  Treasure  Room, 
and  let  her  choose  any  one  thing  that  she 
likes  for  a  present  to  take  home  with  her." 

14 


iqo     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

Then  he  took  a  golden  key  from  his  belt, 
and  gave  it  to  the  Brownie,  saying : 

"  Go  with  him,  Mabel,  and  select  your 
present ;  and  when  you  have  done  so,  come 
back  and  say  good-bye  to  me." 

The  Brownie  took  the  key  from  the  King, 
and  bowed;  and  then  Mabel  followed  him 
out  of  a  second  door.  They  went  through 
several  long,  narrow  halls  and  a  dark  pas- 
sage-way that  twisted  and  turned  in  differ- 
ent directions,  till  they  came  to  a  thick  stone 
door  with  a  big  lock,  and  having  an  iron 
ring  on  the  outside. 

"  Here  is  the  Treasure  Room,"  said  the 
Brownie,  as  he  thrust  the  key  into  the  lock 
and  turned  it.  Then  he  pulled  the  iron 
ring ;  the  door  slowly  opened ;  and  he  and 
Mabel   went  in. 

Mabel  gave  a  cry  of  wonder  and  delight. 
The  Treasure  Room  was  an  immensely 
long  hall,  filled  with  thousands  of  beautiful 
things  piled  up  to  the  very  ceiling.  Great 
cases  stood  about  crammed  with  everything 
that  any  one  could  ever  want;  and  there 
were  also  tables  covered  with  all  sorts 
of  treasures.      Toys,   picture-books,    lovely 


THE   BROWNIE  JELLY  191 

dresses,  silk,  satins,  velvets,  mountains  of 
candy  of  every  kind  and  colour,  knick- 
knacks,  paintings,  curious  carvings,  bric-a- 
brac,  jewels  and  precious  stones,  ornaments, 
—  everything  beautiful  that  any  one  could 
imagine, —  all  were  in  that  wonderful  room. 

"  Oh,  oh ! "  cried  Mabel  again,  her  eyes 
sparkling  with  delight.  "What  delicious 
things!" 

"  Yes,  they  are  pretty,"  said  the  Brownie, 
smiling  at  her  excitement ;  "  and  you  must 
choose  something  for  yourself  as  a  present 
from  the  King." 

"  May  I  really  choose  anything  I  want  ?  " 
asked  Mabel. 

"  Yes,  any  one  thing,"  said  the  Brownie. 
"  What  shall  it  be  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  must  look  all  around  first,"  said 
Mabel;  and  she  began  to  move  about  slowly 
among  the  heaps  of  treasure. 

Piled  up  against  the  sides  of  the  room 
were  great  bags  of  gold.  The  Brownie  told 
her  what  was  in  them. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  want  any  gold,"  said  Mabel, 
carelessly ;  and  the  Brownie  laughed  a  little 
to  himself. 


192     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

The  first  thing  that  she  stopped  to  look 
at  was  a  case  filled  with  clusters  of  the 
most  exquisite  pearls  strung  into  necklaces 
upon  silver  thread.  Each  pearl  was  as 
large  as  a  pea,  and  had  a  soft  lustrous  gleam 
that  made  the  whole  necklace  look  like  a 
string  of  globed  lamps  turned  low. 

"  Oh,  how  pretty !  "  cried  Mabel.  "  They  'd 
be  just  lovely  to  wear  with  my  party  dress. 
I  '11  try  one  on." 

So  she  tried  one  of  the  necklaces  on. 

"  I  —  I  —  think  I  '11  take  this,"  said  she. 

"All  right,"  said  the  Brownie;  but  just 
at  that  moment  Mabel's  eyes  caught  sight 
of  a  dress  hanging  on  a  silver  nail  near  by. 
It  was  made  of  pale  rose-coloured  silk, 
covered  with  lace  so  fine  that  it  looked  as 
though  it  had  been  made  by  the  fairies  ; 
and  tiny  knots  of  rose-coloured  ribbon 
were  fastened  at  the  shoulders  and  the 
waist. 

"Oh,  isn't  it  lovely!"  cried  Mabel. 
"And  it 's  just  the  right  size  for  me.  May 
I  take  this  instead  of  the  necklace  ?  " 

"  Of  course,"  said  the  Brownie. 

Mabel    took    the    dress    down    from    its 


THE   BROWNIE   JELLY  193 

nail  and  held  it  on  her  arm,  passing 
her  fingers  over  the  lace  and  smoothing 
out  the  bows. 

"  I  think  1 11  take  this,"  said  she,  slowly ; 
but  just  then  she  heard  the  sound  of  the 
most  beautiful  music  by  her  side ;  and  when 
she  turned  to  look,  she  found  that  it  came 
from  an  ivory  box. 

"  It  s  a  magic  music-box,"  said  the 
Brownie.  "It  plays  all  the  tunes  in  the 
world.  All  you  have  to  do  is  to  pat  the  lid 
three  times,  and  say  what  you  want  it  to 
play,  and  it  will  play  it  till  you  pat  it  again." 

It  was  a  very  small  box,  but  it  played  like 
a  whole  orchestra,  now  softly  and  sweetly 
like  a  fairy  lullaby,  and  then  full  and  strong 
like  a  great  military  band  with  drums  and 
trumpets  and  cymbals ;  and  then  again  its 
music  was  like  that  of  flutes  and  harps  and 
violins. 

"  Oh,  that  s  what  I  want !  "  said  Mabel. 
"  Never  mind  the  dress."  She  raised  the 
box  from  the  table  and  patted  it  to  make  it 
stop,  and  then  she  patted  it  again  and  told 
it  to  play  the  Lizard's  Call.  At  once  it 
began  playing  it,  —  first  simply,  and  then 


i94     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

with  all  sorts  of  changes,  to  the  sound  of 
little  silver  bells  and  tinkling  triangles. 

"  Yes,  I  '11  take  that,"  said  Mabel ;  and  she 
was  turning  around  to  go,  when  just  behind 
her  she  saw  what  at  first  she  took  to  be  a 
little  girl  of  about  three  years  old  sitting 
on  a  small  velvet  sofa. 

"Why  —  who's  that?"  gasped  Mabel, 
greatly  surprised. 

"That  s  a  doll,"  said  the  Brownie;  "and 
I  think  you  never  saw  one  like  it  before. 
It  can  talk  and  laugh  and  cry  and  walk." 

"  Can  you  talk?  "  asked  Mabel  of  the  Doll 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  the  Doll,  smiling.  "  I 
can  say  a  hundred  words." 

"  Dear  me  I  "  said  Mabel.   "  How  strange ! " 

She  put  the  music-box  down,  and  lifted 
the  Doll  off  the  sofa,  and  set  it  upon  the 
floor.  It  walked  up  and  down  two  or  three 
times  and  then  said  — 

"  Put  me  back,  please." 

"Well,  I  never!"  said  Mabel. 

"  There 's  a  whole  trunk  of  clothes  that 
go  with  the  Doll,"  said  the  Brownie. 

"Oh,  that's  what  I  want,"  said  Mabel. 
Would  you  like  to  go  with  me,  Dollie  ?  " 


41  That's  a  doll,"  said  the  Brownie  ;  "  and  I  think  you  never  saw  one  like  it 
before.     It  can  talk  and  laugh  and  cry  and  walk." 


e      * 


THE   BROWNIE   JELLY  195 

"Yes,  indeed,"  said  the  Doll.  "It's 
stupid  sitting  here  all  alone." 

"  Well,"  said  Mabel ;  "  I  think  I  '11  take 
you." 

And  she  was  looking  about  for  the  trunk 
of  clothes,  when  down  at  the  end  of  the  hall 
she  noticed,  for  the  first  time,  a  sort  of  house 
standing  among  a  perfect  forest  of  swings, 
see-saws,  and  run-arounds. 

"  Why,  what 's  that  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  Oh,  that 's  a  doll-house,"  said  the 
Brownie.     "  Want   to   see   it  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Mabel ;  and  she  hurried  down 
to  where  it  stood,  leaving  the  Doll,  who  called 
after  her  once  or  twice,  and  then  laughed. 

Mabel  reached  the  doll-house.  It  was  a 
real  house  with  twelve  rooms,  each  one 
almost  large  enough  for  Mabel  herself  to 
sit  in.  The  front  of  the  house  had  real 
glass  windows  with  lace  curtains,  two  front- 
doors and  a  door-step,  besides  a  little  door- 
bell ;  and  the  whole  front  swung  open  on 
hinges  and  showed  the  inside  of  the  house 
when  you  rang  the  bell.  Each  of  the  twelve 
rooms  was  fully  carpeted  and  furnished,  even 
to  the  pictures  on  the  walls,  and  the  clocks 


196     THE   ADVENTURES    OF    MABEL 

on  the  mantels,  and  the  soap-dish  in  the 
bath-room.  A  bird-cage  with  a  canary  that 
really  sang  hung  in  the  sewing-room ;  there 
was  a  piano  in  the  parlour;  and  in  the 
kitchen  was  a  stove  with  a  fire  in  it  that 
blazed  up  when  you  touched  a  knob.  A 
pump  in  the  sink  pumped  real  water ;  and 
when  the  fire  in  the  stove  was  going,  real 
smoke  came  out  of  the  chimneys  at  the  top 
of  the  house.  The  bed-rooms  had  lovely 
little  beds  with  pillows  and  pillow-shams ; 
the  dining-room  had  a  full  set  of  dishes  on 
the  sideboard;  the  garret  was  stored  with 
trunks  and  curious  things ;  and  the  cellar 
had  a  coal-bin  and  a  wood-pile,  just  as  in  a 
real  house. 

"  Oh,  that 's  the  best  yet !  "  cried  Mabel, 
clapping  her  hands.  "  But  it 's  so  big  that 
I  could  n't  carry  it  home." 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  could,"  said  the  Brownie. 
"  You  press  the  little  knob  in  the  roof  and 
the  house  shuts  up  by  magic  and  makes  a 
little  package  that  you  can  carry  in  one 
hand  ;  and  when  you  press  the  other  knob 
on  the  door-step,  it  all  opens  out  again  just 
as  you  see  it  now." 


THE   BROWNIE   JELLY  197 

"Well,  then,  this  is  what  I  will  really 
take,"  said  Mabel ;  and  she  walked  around 
the  house  looking  at  it  from  all  sides.  As 
she  went  behind  it  to  see  if  there  was  a 
back-door,  she  saw  against  the  end  of  the 
Treasure  Room  a  great  pyramid  of  little 
silver  jars,  each  one  having  a  gold  spoon 
tied  to  it  by  a  silver  wire. 

"  Ah-h-h  !  "  said  Mabel,  as  she  looked  at 
the  jars.  "  /  know  what 's  in  them.  It  s 
Brownie  jelly  1 " 

"Yes,"  said  the  Brownie,  "just  like  what 
you  had  in  the  Great  Hall." 

"  Ye-e-s,"  said  Mabel  slowly,  and  her  eyes 
wandered  away  from  the  doll-house  to  the 
jars  of  jelly.  She  remembered  how  deli- 
cious the  jelly  was,  how  it  tasted  like  all 
the  loveliest  kinds  of  ice-cream  blended 
together  with  pounded  almonds  and  choco- 
late and  strawberries ;  and  as  she  thought 
of  it,  her  little  mouth  watered  and  she 
smacked  her  lips. 

"  It  was  awfully  good,"  said  she. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Brownie. 

"  It  was  the  best  thing  I  ever  tasted  in 
my  life,"  said   she. 


198     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Brownie. 

"  I  can  only  have  one  thing,  can  I  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Brownie. 

Mabel  stood  first  on  one  foot,  and  then 
on  the  other  foot,  and  put  her  finger  in 
her  mouth,  and  looked  hard  at  the  doll- 
house,  and  then  at  the  jars  of  Brownie  jelly. 

"  Well,"  she  said  at  last,  "  do  you  know  — 
I  —  think  —  I  '11  —  take  —  a  —  jar  —  of  — 
Brownie  jelly." 

And  she  snatched  one  of  the  silver  jars 
from  the  top  of  the  pile.  The  Brownie 
laughed  so  that  he  could  hardly  speak. 
Mabel  blushed,  but  she  kept  a  tight  hold 
on  the  jar. 

"  Are  you  really  going  to  keep  it  ?  "  asked 
the  Brownie. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mabel,  firmly  ;  "  and  I  think 
I  '11  go  now.  Please,  Brownie,  will  you  take 
my  hand  and  lead  me  out  of  the  room  ?  I 
want  to  shut  my  eyes  so  that  I  won't  see 
any  of  the  other  things,  for  fear  I  should 
change  my  mind." 

The  Brownie  laughed  again;  and  finally 
he  took  some  silver  paper  and  wrapped  up 
the  jar  and  its  spoon  into  a  neat  little  pack- 


THE   BROWNIE  JELLY  199 

age.  Then  he  led  Mabel  out  of  the  Treasure 
Room  into  the  passage,  and  locked  the 
door.  They  went  back  through  the  wind- 
ing passage  and  the  halls  till  they  came  to 
the  room  where  the  Brownie  King  was 
sitting   on   his    throne. 

"Aha!"  said  he  when  he  saw  Mabel. 
"  So  you  're  back  again.  Did  you  choose  a 
present  ?  " 

"  Yes,  King,"  said  she ;  "  and  I  thank  you 
very,  very  much." 

"  And  what  did  you  choose  ?  "  asked  he, 
smiling.  "  I  think  I  can  guess.  Was  it 
the  Talking  Doll?" 

"  No,  King,"  said  Mabel ;  "  it  was  n't  the 
Doll." 

"What?  Not  the  Doll?  Well,  well! 
Then  it  must  have  been  a  beautiful  neck- 
lace." 

"  No,  King,"  said  Mabel ;  "  it  was  n't  a 
necklace." 

"  Then  it  was  the  music-box." 

"  No,  King,"  said  Mabel ;  "  it  was  n't  the 
music-box,  either." 

"  What  ?  Why,  I  don't  understand.  Per- 
haps it  was  a  lace  dress." 


200     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

"  No,"  said  Mabel. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  the  King ;  "  I  remember. 
Of  course,  of  course.  It  was  the  doll- 
house." 

"No,"  said  Mabel;  "it  wasn't  the  doll- 
house." 

The  King  nearly  fell  off  his  throne,  he 
was  so  surprised. 

"  Then,  for  goodness'  sake,"  he  said,  "  tell 
me  what  it  was." 

"Well,"  said  Mabel,  looking  down,  "it 
was  a  —  a  jar  of  Brownie  jelly!" 

The  King  lay  back  on  his  throne  and 
shook  with  laughter  till  Mabel  thought  he 
would  fall  to  pieces. 

"  Ha,  ha,  ha,  ha  !  "  he  roared,  "  a  jar  of 
jelly!     A  jar  of  jelly!" 

"  Yes,"  said  Mabel ;  "  it 's  the  best  thing  I 
ever  tasted." 

"Ha,  ha,  ha!  A  jar  of  jelly!"  cried  he 
again.  "  Well,  well,  you  're  a  real  human 
little  girl,  aren't  you!     A  jar  of  jelly!" 

Then  he  stooped  down  and  patted  her 
head  and  said  :  — 

"Well,  good-bye,  now,  Mabel.  I  'm  sorry 
to  have  you  go,  for  you  Ve  given  me  such 


* 


THE   BROWNIE   JELLY  201 

a  good  laugh ;  but  no  little  girls  ever  come 
here,  nor  any  other  human  beings  ;  so  I  sup- 
pose I  shall  not  see  you  again.     Good-bye." 

And  then  he  began  laughing  once  more ; 
and  the  last  thing  that  Mabel  heard  him  say 
was,  "  A  jar  of  jelly!  " 

She  went  back  into  the  Great  Hall  to  say 
good-bye  to  the  other  Brownies,  who  all 
shook  hands  with  her  and  patted  her  on 
the  head;  and  then  the  Soldier  Brownie 
brought  a  torch,  and  said  that  he  would  light 
the  way  for  her  out  of  the  cave.  So  the 
great  door  was  opened  again,  and  Mabel 
went  out  into  the  dark  tunnel,  the  Soldier 
Brownie  going  ahead  of  her  with  the  torch. 
When  they  had  turned  the  corner  and  could 
see  the  daylight  glimmering  at  the  entrance 
of  the  cave,  the  Soldier  Brownie  in  his  turn 
shook  hands  with  Mabel,  said  good-bye,  put 
out  the  torch,  and  quickly  disappeared 
around  the  corner.  Mabel  heard  him  going 
back  to  the  stone  door,  and  soon  she  heard 
it  open  and  shut  again ;  and  then  she  crept 
out  of  the  dark  hole,  through  the  thicket 
and  the  blackberry  bushes,  and  ran  home  as 
fast  as  she  could,  leaving   her   sunbonnet 


202     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

and  her  basket  of  berries  on  the  ground,  but 
hugging  the  jar  of  jelly  tight  in  her  arms. 

Grandma  was  sitting  on  the  verandah 
when  Mabel  ran  up  all  out  of  breath. 

"  Oh,  Grandma,  Grandma,"  she  cried, 
"  where  do  you  think  I  Ve  been  ?  " 

"Why,  down  in  the  woods,  I  suppose/' 
said  Grandma. 

"  Yes ;  but  where  else  ? " 

"  I  'm  sure  I  can't  guess,"  answered 
Grandma. 

"  Well,  Grandma,"  said  Mabel,  "  I  Ve 
been  in  the  Brownie's  home,  visiting  the 
Brownies ! " 

Then  she  told  the  whole  story  just  as  it 
has  been  told  here;  and  when  she  had 
finished,  she  cried  out :  — 

"There  now!  What  do  you  think  of 
that  ?  " 

Grandma  smiled  and  patted  her  little 
girl's  head. 

"  I  think,"  she  said,  "  that  somebody  fell 
asleep  in  the  woods,  and  had  a  beautiful 
long  midsummer  dream." 

"  Oh,  no ! "  cried  Mabel,  "  I  did  n't  dream 
a  word  of  it.     It  really,  really  happened  to 


THE   BROWNIE  JELLY  203 

me,  and  I  was  just  as  wide  awake  as  you 
are,  Grandma.     Truly,  truly  !  " 

"  Well,  well,  Mabel,"  said  Grandma ;  "  of 
course  you  think  you  saw  all  these  strange 
things ;  but  there  are  really  no  Brownies 
nowadays  outside  of  picture-books  ;  so,  you 
see,  you  must  have  dreamed  it." 

"  Did  I  dream  this,  Grandma  ? "  asked 
Mabel,  suddenly  holding  up  the  package 
wrapped  in  silver  paper. 

Grandma  looked  surprised,  and  took  the 
package  and  unrolled  it.     Out  came  a  beau- 
tiful little  silver  jar  with  a  silver  lid,  and  a 
I  gold  spoon   fastened  to   it  by  a  bit  of  fine 

I  silver   wire.     On   the   top   of   the   lid  was 

I  carved  a  picture  of  the  Brownie  King  with 

his   crown   upon    his    head,  and   the  same 
I  picture   was    cut    on    the    handle    of    the 

spoon. 

Grandma's  eyes  opened  very  wide.     She 
did  not  speak  for  a  long  time,  and  then  she 
I  said :  — 

11  It  is  all  very  curious,  Mabel,  and  I  will 

I  not  speak  about  it  just  now.     It  is  time  for 

you  to  have  your  supper  and  be  put  to  bed. 

But  to-morrow  morning  after   breakfast,  I 


2o4     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

will  go  with  you  to  the  woods,  and  you  can 
show  me  the  place  where  you  found  the 
entrance  to  the  cave.,, 

So  the  next  morning,  Grandma  and  Mabel 
went  together  down  into  the  woods;  and 
Mabel  led  her  to  the  thicket  of  blackberry 
bushes.  Sure  enough,  there  lay  Mabel's 
sunbonnet  just  where  she  had  left  it  the 
day  before.  In  the  bushes  they  also  found 
the  basket  nearly  full  of  berries.  Mabel 
showed  Grandma  how  she  had  crawled 
through  the  bushes  to  the  great  rock. 

"  I  'm  pretty  old  to  creep  on  the  ground," 
said  Grandma,  after  peering  into  the  thicket ; 
"  but  I  think  I  '11  try  it,  just  for  once." 

So  she  actually  got  down  on  her  hands 
and  knees,  and  crept  in  among  the  bushes 
just  as  Mabel  had  done.  But  when  she 
reached  the  rock  on  the  other  side,  she 
found  no  opening;  for  an  enormous  stone 
had  been  wedged  into  the  hole,  so  that 
hardly  a  crack  was  left.  Grandma  took 
both  hands  and  tried  to  move  it ;  but  it  was 
too  heavy  and  was  wedged  in  too  tight; 
and  when  she  gave  it  up,  she  heard  a  little 
laugh  on  the  other  side  of  the  stone. 


THE   BROWNIE   JELLY 


205 


She  crawled  back  to  where  Mabel  was 
waiting. 

"  There's  no  hole  now,"  she  said.  "It's 
been  stopped  up." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Mabel,  nodding  her  little 
head  wisely.  "The  King  Brownie  said 
that  no  one  would  ever  get  in  again." 

They  walked  home  together  and  Grandma, 
kept  very  silent  about  it  all.  That  day 
Mabel  gave  her  a  taste  of  the  Brownie  jelly, 
and  every  day  she  herself  ate  just  one  spoon- 
ful of  it  till  it  was  all  gone ;  and  then  she 
put  the  empty  silver  jar  and  the  spoon  on 
the  shelf  in  her  own  room,  to  remind  her  of 
the  time  when  she  had  visited  the  Brownies. 


-c^iou 


XII.  THE  RESCUE  OF  JACK 


AFTER  her  first  visit  to  the  Giant's 
castle,  Mabel  went  there  regularly 
twice  a  week.  She  and  Elsie 
became  great  friends;  and  as  Elsie  grew 
stronger  they  began  to  plan  for  the  time 
when  she  and  Mabel  could  go  out  into  the 
fields  and  have  a  picnic;  but  as  yet  she 
was  not  able  to  get  any  further  than  the 
courtyard.  It  was  just  at  this  time  that 
something  happened  which  I  am  now  going 
to  tell. 

Over  the  hill  beyond  the  brook  where  the 
Frogs  were,  stood  a  small  white  house,  and 
in  it  lived  a  little  boy  about  seven  years  old, 
named  Jack.  He  had  not  lived  there  long, 
so  that  Mabel  did  not  know  him  very  well ; 
but  he  had  come  to  her  house  once  or  twice 
to  see  her  and  Walter,  and  they  were  get- 


THE   RESCUE   OF  JACK  207 

ting  to  be  pretty  well  acquainted.  One  day 
Mabel  was  sitting  on  the  lawn  playing  with 
Towser,  when  Jack's  Father  came  by,  walk- 
ing very  fast  and  looking  anxiously  in  all 
directions  as  he  walked.  When  he  saw 
Mabel,  he  stopped  and  asked :  — 

"  Have  you  seen  anything  of  my  little 
boy  to-day  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Mabel.  "  He  has  n't  been 
here." 

Jack's  Father  did  n't  wait  to  say  anything 
more,  but  hurried  on  up  the  road.  He  had 
been  gone  about  an  hour,  when  back  he 
came,  still  walking  very  fast  and  looking  all 
about  him. 

"  Did  you  find  him  ?  "  asked  Mabel,  as  he 
passed  by  the  gate. 

"  No,  and  no  one  has  seen  him  anywhere. 
I  can't  think  what  has  become  of  him,  for 
he 's  been  away  since  ten  o'clock  this  morn- 
ing, and  it 's  now  two.  He  did  n't  come 
home  at  noon  for  dinner,  and  I  fear  that 
something  has  happened  to  him." 

"  Well,"  said  Mabel,  "  if  I  see  him  I  '11 
tell  him  that  you  are  worried  about  him." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Jack's  Father ;  "  and 


2o8     THE   ADVENTURES    OF    MABEL 

please  ask  everybody  who  passes  if  they 
have  seen  a  little  boy  in  velvet  knicker- 
bockers and  a  Scotch  cap." 

And  he  hurried  away  in  the  direction  of 
his  own  home.  Mabel  thought  it  over  for 
quite  a  while;  and  then  she  felt  that  it  would 
be  a  good  thing  for  her  to  have  Rex  sad- 
dled and  to  ride  along  the  roads  asking 
whether  any  one  had  seen  or  heard  of  Jack. 
So  presently  she  was  galloping  past  the 
Cross  Dog's  house  and  the  Frogs'  brook ; 
and  just  as  she  was  near  Jack's  house,  she 
saw  the  Butcher  riding  along  in  his  cart. 

"  Have  you  seen  anything  of  a  little  boy 
in  velvet  knickerbockers  and  a  Scotch  cap  ?  " 
she  asked  him. 

"  Yes,"  he  said.  "  I  saw  him  this  morn- 
ing going  down  the  road  that  turns  to  the 
left  after  you  go  some  distance  past  the 
hill.  I  've  just  told  his  father  so ;  and  he 's 
got  a  horse  and  has  gone  to  look  for  him 
down  that  way." 

Mabel  let  Rex  walk  as  she  went  along 
in  the  same  direction.  She  thought  that 
if  Jack's  Father  had  gone  down  the  road 
to  the  left,  there  was   no  need  for  her  to 


THE   RESCUE   OF  JACK  209 

go  that  way  too ;  yet  she  decided  that  she 
would  ride  slowly  along  to  meet  the  two 
when  they  came  back.  So  she  went  on 
through  the  woods,  and  past  the  Kitty- 
Cat's,  and  then  reached  the  road  that  turned 
to  the  left.  Just  at  that  moment  she  heard 
the  sounds  of  a  horse's  hoofs  galloping  in 
the  distance ;  and  she  stopped  Rex  and 
waited.  Nearer  and  nearer  came  the  rider, 
and  presently  Mabel  saw  Jack's  Father 
riding  a  bay  horse  and  galloping  up  the  hill 
like  mad.  His  head  was  bare;  his  face  was 
as  white  as  a  sheet  of  paper ;  and  he  was 
lashing  the  horse,  whose  sides  and  legs  were 
covered  with  dust  and  foam. 

"What's  the  matter?"  called  out  Mabel, 
as  he  plunged  into  the  main  road  where 
she  was  sitting  on  Rex's  back. 

He  pulled  up  his  horse  for  a  moment. 

"Oh,"  he  cried,  "it's  terrible!  I  heard 
that  Jack  had  gone  down  this  way,  and  I 
rode  after  him  till  I  crossed  a  big  stone 
bridge,  and  found  a  lot  of  men  all  dressed 
in  red  and  working  in  the  fields.  When  I 
asked  them  if  they  had  seen  my  little  boy, 
they  told   me  that  they  had;   that  he  had 


2io     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

strolled  down  that  road,  and  that  a  great 
Giant  had  found  him  and  carried  him  off  to 
nis  castle.  I  did  n't  know  there  was  a  Giant 
in  this  country ;  but  there  is ;  and  they  say 
that  my  little  boy  is  to  be  eaten  for  his 
breakfast  to-morrow  morning  !  " 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  ? "  asked 
Mabel,  who  was  greatly  excited  by  this  news. 

"  Do  ?  "  cried  he.  "  Why,  I  'm  going  to 
get  all  the  men  in  the  town  to  come,  with 
guns  and  axes  and  hammers,  and  break  into 
the  Giant's  castle  and  get  my  boy  out." 

"  I  'm  afraid  a  Giant  is  too  big  for  you  to 
fight,"  said  Mabel.  "  He  could  step  on  you 
and  kill  you  with  one  foot." 

"  So  the  men  in  the  road  told  me,"  said 
Jack's  Father ;  "  but  I  don't  care.  I  '11  do 
what  I  can,  —  I  '11  burn  and  chop  and  slash; 
and  if  he  kills  me  —  why,  I  'd  rather  die 
than  live  without  my  little  boy." 

Mabel  looked  very  serious. 

"  Stop  a  minute,"  she  said.  "  I  want  to 
tell  you  something.  Don't  try  to  break  into 
the  castle,  but  just  wait  and  let  me  see  what 
/  can  do.  If  you  will,  I  promise  you  that 
Jack  shall  not  be  hurt." 


THE   RESCUE   OF  JACK  211 

Jack's  Father  stared  at  her  in  astonish- 
ment. 

"  What  you  ?    A  little  girl  T 

"  Yes,"  said  Mabel.  "  I  know  what  I  can 
do;  and  I  promise  you  to  bring  Jack  safely 
home  by  sunset.  Wait  at  your  house  and 
see." 

"But,  Mabel,"  said  he,  earnestly,  "you 
must  n't  go  near  the  Giant's  castle.  You 
are  too  little  to  know  what  a  Giant  is.  He 
is  a  fearful  monster,  and  if  he  sees  you  he 
will  catch  you  and  eat  you  at  the  same  time 
as  he  eats  my  poor  little  Jack." 

Mabel  smiled. 

"  No,"  she  said ;  "  don't  be  afraid.  I 
promise  not  to  get  into  any  danger ;  but  I 
promise  also  to  save  Jack  before  sunset. 
Don't  do  anything  till  then." 

"  Well,"  said  Jack's  Father,  "  I  could  n't 
get  any  men  together  before  that  time,  so 
I'll  promise  you.  But  be  sure  you  don't 
run  into  any  danger.  I  don't  want  you  to 
be  eaten,  too." 

With  these  words,  he  whipped  his  horse 
and  galloped  away  again  toward  the  town  to 
see  if  any  men  would  help  him  to  attack  the 


212     THE  ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

Giant's  castle.  When  he  had  disappeared 
down  the  road  in  a  cloud  of  dust,  Mabel 
patted  Rex  on  the  neck,  and  spoke  to  him. 

"  Rex/'  she  said,  "  we  Ve  got  a  long,  hard 
ride  before  us  ;  but  I  want  you  to  do  your 
best,  so  that  I  can  keep  my  promise  and 
save  poor  little  Jack." 

She  shook  the  reins,  and  Rex  bounded 
forward  down  the  road  to  the  left.  He  flew 
along  like  an  arrow ;  his  hoofs  seemed 
scarcely  to  touch  the  ground,  as  he  strained 
his  head  forward  and  dashed  over  the  road ; 
his  mane  streamed  in  the  air,  his  neck  quiv- 
ered, and  he  galloped  faster  than  he  had 
ever  done  in  all  his  life. 

"  Good  Rex !  "  cried  Mabel,  as  he  sped 
along  with  a  flight  like  a  bird's. 

On  they  went  over  hill  and  dale,  on,  on, 
on,  clattering  through  the  grass  and  woods, 
thundering  over  the  great  stone  bridge,  on 
between  the  fields  where  the  men  in  red 
were  working,  on,  on,  on,  never  stopping  till 
they  dashed  down  the  last  hill  and  found 
themselves  before  Cormoran's  huge  castle 
with  its  mighty  towers,  its  gilded  roof,  and 
its  massive  gateway. 


THE    RESCUE   OF  JACK  213 

Mabel  tugged  at  the  chain,  and  the  great 
bell  clanged.  The  gate  flew  open,  and  she 
clattered  into  the  courtyard  where  the  red 
spearmen  saluted  her. 

"  Here,  take  my  horse,  some  one  !  "  cried 
Mabel,  as  she  slid  to  the  ground. 

"  Do  you  want  to  see  the  little  Lady 
Elsie  ?  "  asked  one  of  the  men. 

"  No,"  said  Mabel ;  "  I  want  to  see  the 
Giant." 

The  man  hesitated  a  little. 

"  You  can't  see  him  to-day,"  said  he. 
11  He's  very  much  out  of  sorts.  He's  shut 
himself  up  in  his  den,  and  has  given  orders 
that  no  one  is  to  disturb  him." 

"  I  can't  help  it,"  said  Mabel ;  "  I  must  see 
him.  Please  help  me  up  the  stairs,  some  one." 

The  man  who  had  spoken  bowed  and  led 
her  through  the  doorway  into  the  castle,  and 
lifted  her  up  the  great  steps,  one  by  one,  till 
she  had  reached  the  top ;  and  then  he  turned 
and  ran  away  as  fast  as  he  could. 

Mabel  walked  straight  to  the  door  of  the 
den.  Her  heart  beat  very  fast;  yet  she  did 
not  hesitate  a  moment,  but  beat  on  the 
door  with  the  handle  of  her  riding-whip. 


2i4     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

"WHO'S  THAT?"  roared  a  terrific 
voice  within. 

"  It 's  me,"  called  Mabel,  as  loud  as  she 
could ;  but  her  voice  was  too  weak  and 
small  to  be  heard  through  the  thick  door. 

"  WHO  'S  THAT?  "  bellowed  the  Giant 
"  GO  AWAY ! " 

Mabel  beat  the  door  again, 

"HA!"  shouted  Cormoran  ;  and  Mabel 
could  hear  him  jumping  up  from  his  oaken 
chair.  "KNOCK  AGAIN  AND  I'LL 
EAT  YOU  UP!!" 

Mabel  was  dreadfully  frightened ;  but  she 
raised  her  whip  and  beat  the  door  again. 
In  half  a  second  it  flew  wide  open  with  a 
crash,  and  Cormoran  rushed  to  the  entrance. 
He  was  a  fearful  sight.  His  tangled  red 
hair  stood  out  all  over  his  head  like  a  blaze 
of  fire;  his  lips  were  curled  up  so  as  to 
show  his  great  tusks ;  and  his  eyes  rolled 
and  glared  furiously  like  those  of  some 
monstrous  beast. 

"  YOU  SHALL  DIE  ! "  he  howled  — and 
then  he  saw  that  it  was  Mabel. 

"  Please,  Cormoran,  I  want  to  see  you 
about  something  very  much,"  said  Mabel, 


THE    RESCUE   OF   JACK  215 

in  her  soft  little  voice,  which  trembled  with 

fear  as  she  spoke. 

Cormoran  looked  at  her  a  moment,  and 

he  seemed   less   angry.     But  his  face  still 

wore  a  scowl. 

"  WELL/'  he  said  shortly, "  COME  IN." 
Mabel  went  into  the  den,  and  climbed  up 

on  a  footstool. 

"WHAT  IS  IT?"  growled  Cormoran. 
"COME,  MAKE  A  SHORT  STORY 
OF  IT." 

11  Please,"  said  Mabel,  folding  her  hands 
in  her  lap,  "have  you  caught  a  little  boy 
to-day  ?  " 

"  YES,"  grunted  Cormoran;  "  HE  'S  OR- 
DERED FOR  BREAKFAST.     WHAT 

OF  IT?" 

"  Oh,  Cormoran,"  pleaded  Mabel,  "  please 
don't  eat  him.  His  father  is  wild  about  it. 
He  says  he  does  n't  want  to  live  if  you  eat 
his    little   boy." 

"WHAT   DO    I    CARE  WHETHER 

HE    LIVES    OR    NOT?"   growled    the 

Giant. 

"  But  Jack  's  such  a  good  little  boy,"  said 


2i6     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

Mabel ;  "  and  he  never  did  you   any  harm. 
You  won't  be  so  cruel  as  to  eat  him,  will 

"WHY  NOT?  LITTLE  BOYS  ARE 
GOOD  EATING.  WHY  SHOULD  NT 
I  EAT  HIM  JUST  AS  YOU  EAT 
PIGEONS?     PIGEONS  NEVER  DID 

YOU   ANY   HARM." 

Mabel  was  in  despair.  She  felt  that  she 
could  say  nothing  to  persuade  the  great 
hungry  Giant.  But  she  resolved  to  try 
once    more. 

"  Cormoran,"  she  said,  "  you  know  I  Ve 
been  here  often  and  often,  because  you 
asked  me  to ;  and  I  Ve  played  with  Elsie, 
and  you  said  yourself  the  other  day  that  I 
did  more  for  her  than  any  one  else.  When 
I  first  came  she  was  pale,  and  so  weak  that 
she  could  n't  walk  ;  and  now  she  s  so  strong 
and  well  that  next  week  she  's  going  out  of 
doors  again,  just  as  well  as  ever.  You  love 
her  ever  so  much,  don't  you ?  Well,  Jacks 
papa  loves  him  just  as  much  as  you  do 
Elsie ;  and  how  will  he  feel  when  he  knows 
that  his  little  boy  is  dead  ?    Now,  Cormoran, 


i      »   •      1    •  •       • 

*      ,  •  •  «    •     •• 

•  <      •      •    •        •      • 


"  We  must  hurry  home  as  fast  as  we  can.     Come  ! n 


THE    RESCUE   OF   JACK  217 

if  you  think  I  Ve  done  anything  for  your 
Elsie,  let  Jack  go  for  my  sake,  because  he 
is  my  playmate,  too.  If  you  will,  I  will  love 
it  better  than  the  gold  belt  or  than  anything 
else ;  and  I  '11  never  forget  it.  You  will, 
won't  you  ?     Please  do." 

The  great  Giant  looked  down  on  the  little 
figure  sitting  on  the  footstool,  pleading  so 
earnestly  with  two  big  tears  in  her  eyes. 
For  a  long  while  he  kept  silent ;  but  a  great 
gleam  of  good-nature  came  into  his  eyes. 
His  face  softened,  and  at  last  he  said  — 

"WELL,  MABEL,  I  'D  DO  ALMOST 
ANYTHING  FOR  YOU.     COME  ! " 

He  took  a  great  bunch  of  keys  from  his 
belt,  and  strode  out  of  the  room  to  the 
staircase.  Mabel  ran  after  him  as  fast  as 
her  little  legs  could  carry  her ;  and  he  picked 
her  up  in  one  hand,  and  bore  her  gently 
down  the  stairs.  Then  he  unlocked  a  great 
iron  door  behind  which  was  a  dark,  narrow 
stairway  with  short  winding  steps. 

"HE'S  DOWN  HERE  IN  THE 
CELLAR,"  said  Cormoran. 

They  went  down  the   narrow  stairs   to- 


218     THE   ADVENTURES   OF   MABEL 

gether,  into  the  dimly-lighted  cellar.  It  was 
an  enormous  place  about  half  a  mile  long, 
with  huge  stacks  of  wine-barrels  and  casks 
of  ale  piled  about.  As  soon  as  Mabel's 
eyes  became  used  to  the  darkness,  she  saw 
a  row  of  cells,  each  with  a  great  iron  door 
and  a  heavy  lock.  All  of  them  were  open 
but  one. 

"HE'S  IN  THERE,"  said  the  Giant, 
pointing  to  the  cell  whose  door  was  shut. 

Then  he  took  a  big  key  and  put  it  into 
the  lock  and  turned  it.  Mabel  laid  her 
head  against  the  door,  and  then  she  heard  a 
little  voice  inside  the  cell  sobbing  and  crying. 

"  Oh,  don't  eat  me,  please  don't  eat  me  I  " 
said  the  voice. 

It  was  Jack. 

"  Will  you  let  me  open  the  door?  "  asked 
Mabel  of  the  Giant.  "  And  please  don't  let 
him  see  you  when  he  comes  out.  He  '11  be 
so  frightened.  As  soon  as  I  pull  the  door 
open,  please  hide  behind  the  big  piles  of 
barrels." 

"  ALL  RIGHT,"  said  Cormoran,  smiling. 

Mabel  knocked  on  the  door  with  her  little 
fist. 


THE   RESCUE   OF  JACK  219 

"  Jack  !  "  she  called. 

"  Who  's  that  ?  "  said  the  voice  inside  the 
cell. 

"  It 's  Mabel,"  answered  she. 

m  Oh  !  Mabel?  "  called  the  voice.  "  What 
are  you  doing  here?  Has  the  Giant  caught 
you  too?" 

"  No,"  said  Mabel,  cheerily ;  "  and  don't 
be  afraid,  Jack.  I  'm  going  to  open  the 
door,  and  let  you  out  and  take  you  home." 

Jack  gave  a  shout  of  joy.  Then  Mabel 
took  hold  of  the  door  with  both  her  hands, 
and  pulled  with  all  her  might.  The  door 
swung  slowly  open,  and,  as  Cormoran  hid 
himself  behind  the  barrels,  out  came  Jack. 

"  Oh,  Mabel,  Mabel !  "  cried  he.  "  How 
did  you  get  here,  and  how  did  you  open  the 
door?" 

"  Never  mind  now,  Jack,"  she  said ;  "  we 
must  hurry  home  as  fast  as  we  can. 
Come ! " 

She  led  the  way  through  the  cellar,  and 
Jack  followed  her,  wondering.  They  went 
up  the  cellar-stairs  and  out  into  the  court- 
yard, where  the  men  in  red  stood  up  and 

saluted  Mabel  with  their  spears. 

16 


22o     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

"  Bring  my  horse  out,  please,"  said  Mabel, 
"  and  be  as  quick  as  you  can." 

They  led  out  Rex,  and  helped  Mabel  into 
the  saddle. 

"  Lift  this  little  boy  up  behind  me,"  said 
Mabel ;  and  they  did  so. 

"  Now,  Jack,"  said  she,  "  put  your  arms 
around  my  waist,  and  hold  on  tight,  and  be 
careful  not  to  fall  off.     Are  you  ready  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Jack ;  and  Mabel  spoke  to 
Rex,  and  he  started  out  of  the  courtyard, 
trotting  till  he  reached  the  open  road,  and 
then  breaking  into  a  long  gallop  as  he  set 
his  head  toward  home. 


Meanwhile  Jack's  Father  had  ridden 
about  the  country,  and  had  collected  all  the 
men  he  could,  to  lead  them  against  the 
Giant's  castle  in  case  Mabel  did  not  return 
by  sunset.  About  forty  men  had  promised 
to  help  him,  and  he  had  gathered  them  all  to- 
gether into  a  company  on  the  top  of  the  hill 
near  his  own  house.  They  now  stood  there, 
looking  down  upon  the  long  stretch  of 
road   that   wound   around    the  other   hills. 


THE    RESCUE   OF   JACK  221 

Some  of  the  men  had  guns,  others  had 
pistols,  and  some  were  armed  with  clubs 
and  axes  and  pitchforks  and  crowbars  and 
scythes.  Behind  the  highest  hill  the  great 
red  sun  was  already  beginning  to  set. 

"  It  s  nearly  time/'  said  Jack's  Father  to 
the  men.  "  The  little  girl  said  that  she 
would  be  back  by  sunset;  and  if  she 
does  n't  come,  you  may  be  sure  that  the 
Giant  has  caught  her  and  is  going  to  eat 
her  too." 

The  men  clashed  their  weapons,  and 
looked  very  fierce. 

"  We  '11  save  them  both !  "  cried  they. 

Jack's  Father  kept  his  eye  on  the  sun. 
Lower  and  lower  it  sank  behind  the  hill, 
until  only  the  upper  part  of  it  could  be 
seen. 

"  It 's  almost  gone,"  said  he,  with  a  groan. 
"  She  's  not  coming  back." 

"  Listen  !  "  cried  one  of  the  men.  "  I  hear 
something." 

They  all  leaned  forward  to  listen.  A  far- 
off  sound  like  the  beat  of  a  horse's  hoofs 
came  faintly  to  their  ears. 

"  It 's  a  horse  !  "  cried  one.     "  Look  i  " 


222     THE   ADVENTURES    OF   MABEL 

Far  away  in  the  distance  a  tiny  cloud  of 
dust  could  be  seen.  On  and  on,  nearer  and 
nearer  it  came,  until  they  saw  a  black  speck 
moving  swiftly  down  the  road,  while  the 
sound  of  galloping  grew  louder  and  louder. 
The  men  all  strained  their  eyes. 

"  It  is  a  horse ! "  cried  Jack's  Father, 
eagerly.  "Yes,  and  I  see  a  little  white 
figure  on  his  back.  It  must  be  Mabel. 
Thank  Heaven,  she  's  not  lost  at  any  rate ! M 

Nearer  and  nearer  came  the  horse,  plung- 
ing along  through  the  dust  of  the  road. 

"  Yes !  "  called  out  one  of  the  men  ;  "  and 
there  s  something  else  on  his  back  too,  be- 
hind the  little  girl.  What !  —  is  it  ?  —  yes  — 
why  — it's  JACK!" 

A  tremendous  shout  went  up  from  forty 
throats.  Every  man  flung  his  hat  into  the 
air,  and  next  his  weapon,  all  cheering  and 
cheering  and  shouting  like  mad ;  and  then 
right  into  the  midst  of  them,  up  the  side 
of  the  hill,  dashed  Mabel,  with  Jack  behind 
her,  carried  along  by  noble  old  Rex,  who 
was  covered  with  foam  from  head  to  foot. 
Mabel  pulled  him  up,  and  he  stopped,  his 
flanks  quivering  and  his  nostrils  panting. 


THE   RESCUE   OF  JACK  223 

Jack's  Father  rushed  at  his  little  boy,  and 
snatched  him  from  the  horse's  back,  hug- 
ging him  tight  to  his  heart.  The  men 
swarmed  around  Mabel,  and  lifted  her  out 
of  the  saddle ;  and  then  two  of  them  held 
her  up  high  in  the  air,  while  the  whole  band 
formed  a  procession,  and  began  marching 
toward  her  home.  They  sang  and  cheered 
and  shouted  till  the  hillsides  rang. 

Grandma  heard  the  noise,  and  came  out 
to  the  gate.  She  saw  forty  men  all  march- 
ing toward  her,  and,  on  the  shoulders  of  two 
of  them,  she  saw  a  little  girl  sitting  with 
an  arm  about  each  of  their  necks. 

Behind  them  another  man  was  leading 
Rex  by  the  bridle-rein. 

"Why,  what  does  all  this  mean?"  cried 
Grandma. 

And  for  answer  the  forty  men  gave  one 
great  shout  — 

"  Hurrah  !  Hurrah !  Hurrah  !  Mabel  !  " 


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